CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 


OF 


WASHINGTON. 


ESSAY 


CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 


WASHINGTON 


REVOLUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


BY  M.  GUIZOT. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH. 


BOSTON: 

JAMES   MUNROE   AND   COMPANY. 
1840. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty,  by  JAMES  MUNROE  AND  COMPANY,  in  the  Clerk's 
office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

FOLSOM,  WELLS,  AND  THURSTON, 

PRINTERS  TO  THE   UNIVERSITY. 


TRANSLATOR'S   PREFACE. 


THE  following  Essay  is  a  translation  of  the 
Introduction,  by  M.  Guizot,  to  a  French  version 
of  Sparks's  Life  of  Washington,  and  of  selected 
portions  of  Washington's  Writings,  which  has 
recently  appeared  in  Paris,  in  six  octavo  vol 
umes.  M.  Guizot  is  well  known,  not  only  as 
the  author  of  many  valuable  historical  works,  but 
as  a  practical  statesman  himself,  and  therefore 
peculiarly  qualified  to  appreciate  the  character  of 
Washington,  and  to  estimate  his  claims  to  the 
gratitude  of  his  country,  and  the  admiration  of 
mankind.  The  Essay  can  hardly  fail  to  be  read 
with  interest  by  every  countryman  of  the  illus 
trious  man,  who  forms  its  subject.  It  is  a  per- 


viii  TRANSLATOR'S    PREFACE. 

formance  remarkable  for  the  knowledge  wLich  it 
evinces  of  our  own  history,  for  its  great  political 
wisdom,  its  elevated  moral  tone,  and  its  just  dis 
crimination  in  regard  to  the  cha  acter  of  Wash 
ington.  Every  American  citizen  must  be  highly 
gratified  to  find  his  own  veneration  for  the  name 
of  Washington  confirmed  by  this  unbiassed  trib 
ute  from  a  foreigner  so  distinguished  in  literature 
and  politics,  as  M.  Guizot.  Nothing  has  ever 
been  written  concerning  him  in  Europe,  so  ac 
curate,  so  just,  and  so  profound  as  this  ;  and  it 
will  serve  to  justify  and  strengthen  that  admira 
tion,  which  has  been  accorded  to  him  in  foreign 
countries,  hardly  less  than  in  his  own. 

BOSTON,  June,  1840. 


ADVERTISEMENT 

OF    THE    FRENCH    PUBLISHERS 


No  foreign  event  occurring  at  a  distance  ever 
awakened  so  lively  a  sympathy  in  France,  as 
the  Revolution  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
No  great  man  who  was  a  foreigner  has  ever,  in 
this  country,  been  the  object  of  general  admira 
tion  to  such  an  extent  as  Washington.  He  has 
had  the  applause  of  both  the  court  and  the  peo 
ple,  of  the  old  regime  and  the  new  nation.  Dur 
ing  his  life,  testimonials  of  respect  were  heaped 
upon  him  by  Louis  the  Sixteenth  ;  and,  at  his 
death,  Napoleon  directed  a  public  mourning  for 
him,  and  a  funeral  oration.* 

*  "  Bonaparte  rendered  \inusual  honors  to  the  name  of 
Washington,  not  long  after  the  event  of  his  death  was  made 
known  in  France.  By  what  motives  he  was  prompted,  it  is 
needless  to  inquire.  At  any  rate,  both  the  act  itself  and  his 


X  ADVERTISEMENT. 

It  is  now  forty  years  since  this  great  man 
has  been  reposing,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
u  in  the  mansions  of  rest,"  at  Mount  Vernon, 
by  the  side  of  his  fathers.  But  his  country 
has  recently  reared  to  him  the  noblest  of  monu 
ments,  in  the  publication  of  his  Works,  consist 
ing  of  his  Letters,  Discourses,  and  Messages, 

manner  of  performing  it  are  somewhat  remarkable,  when  re 
garded  in  connexion  with  his  subsequent  career.  He  was 
then  First  Consul.  On  the  9th  of  February,  he  issued  the 
following  order  of  the  day  to  the  army.  '  Washington  is 
dead  !  This  great  man  fought  against  tyranny  ;  he  estab 
lished  the  liberty  of  his  country.  His  memory  will  always 
be  dear  to  the  French  people,  as  it  will  be  to  all  free  men  of 
the  two  worlds ;  and  especially  to  French  soldiers,  who,  like 
him  and  the  American  soldiers,  have  combated  for  liberty 
and  equality.'  The  First  Consul  likewise  ordered,  that,  dur 
ing  ten  days,  black  crape  should  be  suspended  from  all  the 
standards  and  flags  throughout  the  Republic.  On  the  same 
day  a  splendid  ceremony  took  place  in  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
and  the  trophies  brought  by  the  army  from  Egypt  were  dis 
played  with  great  pomp.  Immediately  after  this  ceremony 
was  over,  a  funeral  oration,  in  honor  of  Washington  (Elogc 
Funtbre  de  Washington)  was  pronounced  by  M.  de  Fontanes, 
in  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  then  called  the  Temple  of  Mars. 
The  First  Consul,  and  all  the  civil  and  military  authorities 
of  the  capital,  were  present." — Sparks's  Life  of  Washington, 
pp.  531,  532,  note. 


ADVERTISEMENT.  XI 

comprising  what  was  written  and  spoken  by  him 
in  the  midst  of  his  active  career,  and  forming 
indeed  his  lively  image  and  the  true  history  of 
his  life. 

These  are,  in  truth,  his  Works.  Washington 
preserved  with  scrupulous  care,  either  a  first 
draft  or  an  exact  copy  of  every  letter  he  wrote, 
whether  as  a  public  man  or  a  private  individual, 
and  whether  they  related  to  his  own  concerns, 
the  management  and  culture  of  his  farms,  or 
to  the  interests  of  the  state.  During  the  pe 
riod  from  1783  to  1787,  in  his  retirement  at 
Mount  Vernon,  he  arranged  the  first  part  of  this 
correspondence,  containing,  among  other  things, 
whatever  had  been  written  by  him  during  the 
war  of  independence  ;  and,  at  his  death,  he  be 
queathed  all  his  papers,  together  with  his  estate 
at  Mount  Vernon,  to  his  nephew,  Bushrod 
Washington,  who  was  for  thirty  years  one  of 
the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Unit 
ed  States.  The  entire  collection,  comprising 
the  letters  written  by  Washington  himself,  and 
those  addressed  to  him,  filled  more  than  two 
hundred  folio  volumes. 


xii  ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  recent 
ly  purchased  these  precious  papers,  and  caused 
them  to  be  deposited  in  the  national  archives. 
An  able  editor,  Mr.  Sparks,  already  well  known 
by  his  important  historical  labors,  and  especially 
by  editing  the  "Diplomatic  Correspondence  of 
the  United  States  during  the  "War  of  Indepen 
dence,"  (printed  at  Boston  in  twelve  octavo 
volumes,)  has  examined  these  papers  and  made 
selections  and  extracts  from  them.  The  family 
of  Washington,  his  surviving  friends,  and  various 
intelligent  and  distinguished  persons  favored  his 
efforts  in  executing  this  patriotic  task.  Mr. 
Sparks  has  not  remained  content  with  the  collec 
tion  of  materials,  already  so  ample,  which  was 
in  his  possession  ;  he  travelled  over  Ameri 
ca  and  Europe,  and  the  public  and  private  col 
lections  of  France  and  England  were  liberally 
opened  to  him.  He  has  sought  out,  and  brought 
together  from  all  quarters,  the  documents  neces 
sary  to  illustrate  and  complete  this  authentic 
biography  of  a  great  man,  which  is  the  history 
of  the  infant  years  of  a  great  people  ;  arid  a  work 
in  twelve  large  octavo  volumes,  adorned  with 


ADVERTISEMENT.  xiil 

portraits,  plates,  and  fac-similes,  under  the  title 
of  "  The  Writings  of  George  Washington,"  has 
been  the  result  of  this  labor,  which  has  been 
performed  in  all  its  parts  with  scrupulous  fidelity, 
patriotism,  and  a  love  of  the  subject. 

The  work  is  divide    into  several  parts. 

The  First  Volume  contains  a  Life  of  Washing 
ton,  written  by  Mr.  Sparks. 

The  Second  Volume,  entitled  Part  First,  con 
tains  the  Official  and  Private  Letters  of  Washing 
ton,  prior  to  the  American  Revolution,  (from  the 
9th  of  March,  1754,  to  the  31st  of  May,  1775.) 
The  official  letters  relate  to  the  war  of  1754  — 
1758,  between  France  and  England,  for  the  pos 
session  of  the  territories  lying  west  of  the  English 
colonies. 

The  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  and 
Eighth  Volumes  (being  the  Second  Part)  com 
prise  the  Correspondence  and  the  various  papers 
relating  to  the  American  Revolution  and  the 
War  of  Independence,  (from  the  16th  of  June, 
1775,  to  the  23d  of  December,  1783.) 

The  Ninth  Volume  (being  the  Third  Part)  is 
composed  of  the  Private  Letters  written  by 


XIV  ADVERTISEMENT. 

Washington  from  the  end  of  1783  to  the  spring 
of  1789,  in  the  interval  between  his  return  to 
Mount  Vernon,  after  the  peace  of  Versailles,  and 
his  elevation  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States,  (from  the  28th  of  December,  1783,  to 
the  14th  of  April,  1789.) 

The  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Volumes  (being  the 
Fourth  Part)  comprise  the  Official  and  Private 
Correspondence  of  Washington  from  his  eleva 
tion  to  the  Presidency  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
(from  the  5th  of  May,  1789,  to  the  12th  of 
December,  1799.) 

The  Twelfth  Volume  (being  the  Fifth  Part) 
contains  the  Documents  and  Messages  addressed 
by  Washington  to  Congress,  as  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  also  his  Proclamations  and 
Addresses  to  the  American  people  in  general, 
or  to  particular  classes  of  citizens. 

Each  volume  is  terminated  by  an  Appendix,  in 
which  the  Editor  has  collected  a  variety  of  his 
torical  documents  of  great  interest,  and,  generally 
speaking,  hitherto  unpublished,  which  illustrate 
the  principal  events  of  the  period,  and  the  most 
important  parts  of  the  life  and  character  of 
Washington. 


ADVERTISEMENT.  XV 

Finally,  numerous  and  accurate  Notes,  scat 
tered  through  the  work,  give  all  the  information 
necessary  for  the  complete  understanding  of  the 
letters  and  incidents  to  which  they  relate. 

Viewed  as  a  whole  and  in  its  details,  in  its 
literary  execution  and  in  its  outward  form,  the 
edition  is  worthy  of  the  great  name  to  which  it 
is  consecrated. 

In  1838,  when  the  W7ork  had  been  just  com 
pleted,  the  American  Editor,  desirous  that  Wash 
ington  should  be  as  well  known  in  France  as  in 
his  own  country,  applied  to  M.  Guizot,  request 
ing  him  to  make  a  selection,  from  the  voluminous 
correspondence,  of  such  portions  as  seemed  most 
calculated  to  awaken  an  interest  in  the  French 
public,  and  to  superintend  their  publication  in 
the  French  language.  M.  Guizot  has  made  this 
selection  ;  upon  the  principle  of  taking,  especial 
ly,  First,  the  letters  concerning  the  relations  of 
France  and  the  United  States  at  that  period,  and 
the  distinguished  part  which  our  country  acted 
in  that  great  event  ;  Secondly,  those  which  de- 
velope  the  political  views  of  Washington  in  the 
formation  of  the  constitution  and  the  organiza- 


XVI  ADVERTISEMENT. 

tion  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, — 
views  full  of  valuable  instruction  ;  Thirdly,  those 
which  exhibit  in  the  clearest  light  the  character, 
the  turn  of  mind,  and  the  manners  of  the  great 
man  from  whom  they  proceeded. 

In  order  to  accomplish  fully  the  honorable  task 
which  he  undertook,  M.  Guizot  was  desirous  of 
presenting  his  own  views  of  the  character  of 
Washington,  and  of  his  influence  in  the  rev 
olution  which  founded  the  United  States  of 
America  ;  and  these  are  contained  in  the  Intro 
duction,  which  is  prefixed  to  our  edition. 

We  have  spared  no  pains  to  make  its  ex 
ternal  appearance  worthy  of  the  intrinsic  value 
of  its  contents.  We  are  indebted  to  the  kind 
ness  of  General  Cass,  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  in  France,  for  most  useful  assistance  and 
information  ;  and  he  has  afforded  them  with  a 
kindness,  at  once  so  enlightened  and  so  gener 
ous,  that  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  make  a  public 
acknowledgment  of  our  obligations  to  him. 


CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 


OF 


WASHINGTON. 


Two  difficult  and  important  duties  are 
assigned  to  man,  and  may  constitute  his 
true  glory ;  to  support  misfortune  and  re 
sign  himself  to  it  with  firmness ;  to  be 
lieve  in  goodness  and  trust  himself  to  it 
with  unbroken  confidence. 

There  is  a  spectacle  not  less  noble  or 
less  improving,  than  that  of  a  virtuous  man 
struggling  with  adversity ;  it  is  that  of  a 
virtuous  man  at  the  head  of  a  good  cause, 
arid  giving  assurance  of  its  triumph. 

If  there  were  ever  a  just  cause,  and  one 
l 


2        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

which  deserved  success,  it  was  that  of  the 
English  colonies  in  their  struggle  to  be 
come  the  United  States  of  America.  In 
their  case,  open  insurrection  had  been  pre 
ceded  by  resistance.  This  resistance  was 
founded  upon  historical  right  and  upon 
facts,  upon  natural  right  and  upon  opinions. 
"It  is  the  honorable  distinction  of  Eng- 
Ja,pd  to.  have  given  to  her  colonies,  in  their 
infancy,  the  seminal  principle  of  their  lib 
erty.  Almost  all  of  them,  either  at  the 
time  of  their  being  planted  or  shortly  af 
ter,  received  charters  which  conferred  up 
on  the  colonists  the  rights  of  the  mother 
country.  And  these  charters  were  not  a 
mere  deceptive  form,  a  dead  letter,  for  they 
either  established  or  recognised  those  pow 
erful  institutions,  which  impelled  the  col 
onists  to  defend  their  liberties  and  to  con 
trol  power  by  dividing  it ;  such  as  the 
laying  of  taxes  by  vote,  the  election  of 
the  principal  public  bodies,  trial  by  jury, 


k  C  *v 
OF    WASHINGTON.  3 

and  the  right  to  meet  and  deliberate  upon 
affairs  of  general  interest. 

Thus  the  history  of  these  colonies  is 
nothing  else  than  the  practical  and  sedu 
lous  developement  of  the  spirit  of  liberty, 
expanding  under  the  protecting  influence 
of  the  laws  and  traditions  of  the  country. 
Such,  indeed,  was  the  history  of  England 
itself. 

A  still  more  striking  resemblance  is 
presented  in  the  fact,  that  the  colonies  of 
America,  at  least  the  greater  part  of  them 
and  the  most  considerable  among  them, 
either  were  founded,  or  received  their 
principal  increase,  precisely  at  the  period 
when  England  was  preparing  to  sustain, 
or  was  already  sustaining,  those  bold  con 
flicts  against  the  claims  of  absolute  power, 
which  were  to  confer  upon  her  the  hon 
orable  distinction  of  giving  to  the  world 
the  first  example  of  a  great  nation,  free 
and  well  governed. 


4        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

From  1578  to  1704,  under  Elizabeth, 
James  the  First,  Charles  the  First,  the 
Long  Parliament,  Cromwell,  Charles  the 
Second,  James  the  Second,  William  the 
Third,  and  Queen  Anne,  the  charters  of 
Virginia,  of  Massachusetts,  of  Maryland, 
of  Carolina,  and  of  New  York,  were,  one 
after  another,  recognised,  contested,  re 
strained,  enlarged,  lost,  regained  ;  inces 
santly  exposed  to  those  struggles  and 
those  vicissitudes,  which  are  the  condi 
tion,  indeed  the  very  essence,  of  liberty  ; 
for  it  is  victory,  and  not  peace,  that  free 
communities  can  lay  claim  to. 

At  the  same  time  with  their  legal 
rights,  the  colonists  had  also  religious 
faith.  It  was  not  only  as  Englishmen, 
but  as  Christians,  that  they  wished  to  be 
free  ;  and  their  faith  was  more  dear  to 
them  than  their  charters.  Indeed,  these 
charters  were,  in  their  eyes,  nothing  more 
than  a  manifestation  and  an  image,  how- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  5 

ever  imperfect,  of  the  great  law  of  God, 
the  Gospel.  Their  rights  would  not 
have  been  lost,  even  had  they  been  de 
prived  of  their  charters.  In  their  en 
thusiastic  state  of  mind,  supported  by  di 
vine  favor,  they  would  have  traced  these 
rights  to  a  source  superior  and  inacces 
sible  to  all  human  power ;  for  they  cher 
ished  sentiments  more  elevated  than  even 
the  institutions  themselves,  over  which 
they  were  so  sensitively  watchful. 

It  is  well  known,  that,  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  human  understanding,  im 
pelled  by  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  the 
growth  of  population,  and  the  increase  of 
every  form  of  social  power,  as  well  as  by 
its  own  impetuous  and  self-derived  activi 
ty,  attempted  the  conquest  of  the  world. 
Political  science,  in  all  its  forms,  woke 
into  new  and  vigorous  life  ;  as  did,  to  a 
still  greater  degree,  the  spirit  of  philoso 
phy,  proud,  unsatisfied,  eager  to  pene- 


6        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

trate  and  to  regulate  all  things.  Eng 
lish  America  shared  in  this  great  move 
ment,  but  serenely  and  dispassionately ; 
obeying  its  inherent  tendency  rather  than 
rushing  into  new  and  untried  paths.  Phi 
losophical  opinions  were  there  combined 
with  religious  belief,  the  triumphs  of  rea 
son  with  the  heritage  of  faith,  and  the 
rights  of  man  with  those  of  the  Christian. 
A  noble  spectacle  is  presented  to  us, 
when  we  see  the  union  of  historical  and 
rational  right,  of  traditions  and  opinions. 
A  nation,  in  such  a  case,  gains  in  pru 
dence  as  well  as  in  energy.  When  time- 
honored  and  esteemed  truths  control  man 
without  enslaving  him,  restrain  at  the 
same  time  that  they  support  him,  he  can 
move  onward  and  upward,  without  dan 
ger  of  being  carried  away  by  the  impet 
uous  flight  of  his  own  spirit,  soon  to  be 
either  dashed  in  pieces  against  unknown 
obstacles,  or  to  sink  gradually  into  a  slug- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  7 

gish  and  paralyzing  inactivity.  And  when, 
by  a  further  union,  still  more  beautiful  and 
more  salutary,  religious  belief  is  indissolu- 
bly  linked,  in  the  very  mind  of  man,  to  the 
general  progress  of  opinions,  and  liberty 
of  reason  to  the  firm  convictions  of  faith, 
—  it  is  then  that  a  people  may  trust  them 
selves  to  the  boldest  institutions.  For  re 
ligious  belief  promotes,  to  an  incalculable 
extent,  the  wise  management  of  human 
affairs.  In  order  to  discharge  properly 
the  duty  assigned  to  him  in  this  life,  man 
must  contemplate  it  from  a  higher  point 
of  view  ;  if  his  mind  be  merely  on  the 
same  level  with  the  task  he  is  perform 
ing,  he  will  soon  fall  below  it,  and  become 
incapable  of  accomplishing  it  in  a  worthy 
manner. 

Such  was  the  fortunate  condition,  both 
of  man  and  of  society,  in  the  English 
colonies,  when,  in  a  spirit  of  haughty  ag 
gression,  England  undertook  to  control 


8        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

their  fortunes  and  their  destiny,  without 
their  own  consent.  This  aggression  was 
not  unprecedented,  nor  altogether  arbitra 
ry  ;  it  also  rested  upon  historical  founda 
tions,  and  might  claim  to  be  supported 
by  some  right. 

It  is  the  great  problem  of  political 
science,  to  bring  the  various  powers  of 
society  into  harmony,  by  assigning  to 
each  its  sphere  and  its  degree  of  activ 
ity  ;  a  harmony  never  assured,  and  al 
ways  liable  to  be  disturbed,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  can  be  produced,  even  from 
the  elements  of  the  struggle  itself,  to 
that  degree  which  the  public  safety  im 
peratively  demands.  It  is  not  the  privi 
lege  of  states  in  their  infancy  to  accom 
plish  this  result.  Not  that  any  essential 
power  is  in  them  absolutely  disregard 
ed  and  annihilated  ;  on  the  contrary,  all 
powers  are  found  in  full  activity;  but  they 
manifest  themselves  in  a  confused  man- 


OF  WASHINGTON. 

ner,  each  one  in  its  own  behalf,  without 
necessary  connexion  or  any  just  propor 
tion,  and  in  a  way  to  bring  on,  not  the 
struggle  which  leads  to  harmony,  but 
the  disorder  which  renders  war  inevitable. 
In  the  infancy  of  the  English  colonies, 
three  different  powers  are  found,  side 
by  side  with  their  liberties,  and  conse 
crated  by  the  same  charters,  —  the  crown, 
the  proprietary  founders,  whether  compa 
nies  or  individuals,  and  the  mother  coun 
try.  The  crown,  by  virtue  of  the  mon 
archical  principle,  and  with  its  traditions, 
derived  from  the  Church  and  the  Empire. 
The  proprietary  founders,  to  whom  the 
territory  had  been  granted,  by  virtue  of 
the  feudal  principle,  which  attaches  a 
considerable  portion  of  sovereignty  to  the 
proprietorship  of  the  soil.  The  mother 
country,  by  virtue  of  the  colonial  prin 
ciple,  which,  at  all  periods  and  among  all 
nations,  by  a  natural  connexion  between 


10       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

facts  and  opinions,  has  given  to  the  moth 
er  country  a  great  influence  over  the 
population  proceeding  from  its  bosom. 

From  the  very  commencement,  as  well 
in  the  course  of  events  as  in  the  char 
ters,  there  was  great  confusion  among 
these  various  powers,  by  turns  exalted  or 
depressed,  united  or  divided,  sometimes 
protecting,  one  against  another,  the  colo 
nists  and  their  franchises,  and  sometimes 
assailing  them  in  concert.  In  the  course 
of  these  confused  changes,  all  sorts  of 
pretexts  were  assumed,  and  facts  of  all 
kinds  cited,  in  justification  and  support 
either  of  their  acts  or  their  pretensions. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury,  when  the  monarchical  principle  was 
overthrown  in  England  in  the  person  of 
Charles  the  First,  one  might  be  led  to 
suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  the  colo 
nies  would  take  advantage  of  this  to  free 
themselves  entirely  from  its  control.  In 


OF  WASHINGTON.  11 

point  of  fact,  some  of  them,  Massachu 
setts  especially,  settled  by  stern  Puritans, 
showed  themselves  disposed,  if  not  to 
break  every  tie  which  bound  them  to 
the  mother  country,  at  least  to  govern 
themselves,  alone,  and  by  their  own  laws. 
But  the  Long  Parliament,  by  force  of  the 
colonial  principle,  and  in  virtue  of  the 
rights  of  the  crown  which  it  inherited, 
maintained,  with  moderation,  the  suprema 
cy  of  Great  Britain.  Cromwell,  succeed 
ing  to  the  power  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
exercised  it  in  a  more  striking  manner, 
and,  by  a  judicious  and  resolute  prin 
ciple  of  protection,  prevented  or  repressed, 
in  the  colonies,  both  royalist  and  Puritan, 
every  faint  aspiration  for  independence. 
This  was  to  him  an  easy  task.  The 
colonies,  at  this  period,  were  feeble  and 
divided.  Virginia,  in  1640,  did  not  con 
tain  more  than  three  or  four  thousand  in 
habitants,  and  in  1660  hardly  thirty  thou- 


12       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

sand.*  Maryland  had  at  most  only  twelve 
thousand.  In  these  two  provinces  the 
royalist  party  had  the  ascendency,  and 
greeted  with  joy  the  Restoration.  In  Mas 
sachusetts,  on  the  other  hand,  the  general 
feeling  was  republican ;  the  fugitive  re 
gicides,  Goffe  and  Whalley,  found  there 
favor  and  protection  ;  and,  when  the  local 
government  were  compelled  to  proclaim 
Charles  the  Second  as  king,  they  forbade, 
at  the  same  time,  all  tumultuous  assem 
blies,  all  kinds  of  merry-making,  and  even 
the  drinking  of  the  King's  health.  There 
was,  at  that  time,  neither  the  moral  uni 
ty,  nor  the  physical  strength,  necessary  to 
the  foundation  of  a  state. 

After  1688,  when  England  was  final 
ly  in  possession  of  a  free  government, 
the  colonies  felt  but  slightly  its  advan- 

*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  edition  of  1805,  Vol. 
I.  p.  76.  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I. 
pp.  210,  232,  265. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  13 

tages.  The  charters,  which  Charles  the 
Second  and  James  the  Second  had  either 
taken  away  or  impaired,  were  but  imper 
fectly  and  partially  restored  to  them.  The 
same  confusion  prevailed,  the  same  strug 
gles  arose  between  the  different  powers. 
The  greater  part  of  the  governors,  coming 
from  Europe,  temporarily  invested  with 
the  prerogatives  and  pretensions  of  royal 
ty,  displayed  them  with  more  arrogance 
than  power,  in  an  administration,  general 
ly  speaking,  inconsistent,  irritating,  seldom 
successful,  frequently  marked  by  grasping 
selfishness,  and  a  postponement  of  the  in 
terests  of  the  public  to  petty  personal 
quarrels. 

Moreover,  it  was  henceforth  not  the 
crown  alone,  but  the  crown  and  the 
mother  country  united,  with  which  the 
colonies  had  to  deal.  Their  real  sove 
reign  was  no  longer  the  king,  but  the 
king  and  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 


14        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

represented  and  mingled  together  in  Par 
liament.  And  the  Parliament  regarded 
the  colonies  with  nearly  the  same  eyes, 
and  held,  in  respect  to  them,  nearly  the 
same  language,  as  had  lately  been  used 
towards  the  Parliament  itself,  by  those 
kings  whom  it  afterwards  overcame.  An 
aristocratic  senate  is  the  most  intractable 
of  masters.  Every  member  of  it  possesses 
the  supreme  power,  and  no  one  is  respon 
sible  for  its  exercise. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  colonies  were 
rapidly  increasing  in  population,  in  wealth, 
in  strength  internally,  and  in  importance 
externally.  Instead  of  a  few  obscure  es 
tablishments,  solely  occupied  with  their 
own  affairs,  and  hardly  able  to  sustain 
their  own  existence,  a  people  was  now 
forming  itself,  whose  agriculture,  com 
merce,  enterprising  spirit,  and  relative  po 
sition  to  other  states,  were  giving  them  a 
place  and  consideration  among  men.  The 


OF   WASHINGTON.  15 

mother  country,  unable  to  govern  them 
well,  had  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  ill 
will  to  oppress  them  absolutely.  She 
vexed  and  annoyed  them  without  check 
ing  their  growth. 

And  the  minds  of  men  were  expanded, 
and  their  hearts  elevated,  with  the  grow 
ing  fortunes  of  the  country.  By  an  admir 
able  law  of  Providence,  there  is  a  myste 
rious  connexion  between  the  general  con 
dition  of  a  country,  and  the  state  of  feel 
ing  among  the  citizens  ;  a  certain,  though 
not  obvious,  bond  of  union,  which  connects 
their  growth  and  their  destinies,  and 
which  makes  the  farmer  in  his  fields,  the 
merchant  in  his  counting-room,  even  the 
mechanic  in  his  workshop,  grow  more  con 
fident  and  high-spirited,  in  proportion  as 
the  society,  in  whose  bosom  they  dwell, 
is  enlarged  and  strengthened.  As  early 
as  1692,  the  General  Court  of  Massa 
chusetts  passed  a  resolution,  "  that  no  tax 


16  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

should  be  levied  upon  his  Majesty's  sub 
jects  in  the  colonies,  without  the  consent 
of  the  Governor  and  Council,  and  the  rep 
resentatives  in  General  Court  assem 
bled."*  In  1704,  the  legislative  assembly 
of  New  York  made  a  similar  declaration.! 
The  government  of  Great  Britain  repel 
led  them,  sometimes  by  its  silence,  and 
sometimes  by  its  measures,  which  were  al 
ways  a  little  indirect  and  reserved.  The 
colonists  were  often  silent  in  their  turn, 
and  did  not  insist  upon  carrying  out  their 
principles  to  their  extreme  consequen 
ces.  But  the  principles  themselves  were 
spreading  among  the  colonial  society,  at 
the  same  time  that  the  resources  were  in 
creasing,  which  were  destined,  at  a  fu 
ture  day,  to  be  devoted  to  their  service, 
and  to  insure  their  triumph. 

Thus,  when    that    day    arrived,    when 

*  Story's  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution,  Vol.  I.  p.  62. 
f  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  17. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  17 

George  the  Third  and  his  Parliament,  rath 
er  in  a  spirit  of  pride,  and  to  prevent  the 
loss  of  absolute  power  by  long;  disuse, 
than  to  derive  any  advantage  from  its  ex 
ercise,  undertook  to  tax  the  colonies  with 
out  their  consent,  a  powerful,  numerous, 
and  enthusiastic  party,  —  the  national  par 
ty, —  immediately  sprang  into  being,  ready 
to  resist,  in  the  name  of  right  and  of  na 
tional  honor. 

It  was  indeed  a  question  of  right  and 
of  honor,  and  not  of  interest  or  physical 
well-being.  The  taxes  were  light,  and 
imposed  no  burden  upon  the  colonists. 
But  they  belonged  to  that  class  of  men 
who  feel  most  keenly  the  wrongs  which 
affect  the  mind  alone,  and  who  can  find 
no  repose  while  honor  is  unsatisfied.  "  For, 
Sir,  what  is  it  we  are  contending  against  ? 
Is  it  against  paying  the  duty  of  three  pence 
per  pound  on  tea,  because  burdensome  ? 
No ;  it.  is  the  right  only,  that  we  have  all 
2 


18       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

along  disputed."*  Such  was,  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  quarrel,  the  language 
of  Washington  himself,  and  such  was  the 
public  sentiment,  —  a  sentiment  founded 
in  sound  policy,  as  well  as  moral  sense, 
and  manifesting  as  much  judgment  as 
virtue. 

An  instructive  spectacle  is  presented  to 
our  contemplation,  in  the  number  of  pub 
lic  associations,  which  at  that  time  were 
formed  in  the  colonies  ;  —  associations, 
local  or  general,  accidental  or  permanent ; 
chambers  of  burgesses  and  of  representa 
tives,  conventions,  committees,  and  con 
gresses.  Men  of  very  different  charac 
ters  and  dispositions  there  met  together ; 
some,  full  of  respect  and  attachment  to 
the  mother  country,  others,  ardently  de 
voted  to  that  American  country  which 

*  Washington,  to  Bryan  Fairfax,  Washington's   Wri 
tings,  Vol.  II.  p.  392. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  19 

was  growing  up  under  their  eyes  and  by 
the  labor  of  their  own  hands  ;  the  former, 
anxious  and  dejected,  the  latter,  confident 
and  enthusiastic,  but  all  moved  and  unit 
ed  by  the  same  elevated  sentiment,  and 
the  same  resolution  to  resist ;  giving  the 
freest  utterance  to  their  various  views 
and  opinions,  without  its  producing  any 
deep  or  permanent  division  ;  on  the  con 
trary,  respecting  in  each  other  the  rights 
of  freedom,  discussing  together  the  great 
question  of  the  country  with  that  con 
scientious  purpose,  that  spirit  of  justice 
and  discretion,  which  gave  them  assurance 
of  success,  and  diminished  the  cost  of  its 
purchase.  In  June,  1775,  the  first  Con 
gress,  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  took 
measures  for  the  publication  of  a  solemn 
declaration,  for  the  purpose  of  justifying 
the  taking  up  of  arms.  Two  members, 
one  from  Virginia,  and  one  from  Penn 
sylvania,  were  a  part  of  the  committee 


20       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

charged  with  the  duty  of  drawing  it  up. 
"  I  prepared,"  relates  Mr.  Jefferson  him 
self,  "  a  draft  of  the  declaration  com 
mitted  to  us.  It  was  too  strong  for  Mr. 
Dickinson.  He  still  retained  the  hope  of 
reconciliation  with  the  mother  country, 
and  was  unwilling  it  should  be  lessened 
by  offensive  statements.  He  was  so  hon 
est  a  man,  and  so  able  a  one,  that  he  was 
greatly  indulged,  even  by  those  who  could 
not  feel  his  scruples.  We  therefore  re 
quested  him  to  take  the  paper,  and  put  it 
into  a  form  he  could  approve.  He  did  so; 
preparing  an  entire  new  statement,  and 
preserving  of  the  former  only  the  last 
four  paragraphs,  and  half  of  the  preceding 
one.  We  approved  and  reported  it  to 
Congress,  who  accepted  it.  Congress 
gave  a  signal  proof  of  their  indulgence  to 
Mr.  Dickinson,  and  of  their  great  desire 
not  to  go  too  fast  for  any  respectable  part 
of  our  body,  in  permitting  him  to  draw 


OF  WASHINGTON.  21 

their  second  petition  to  the  King  accord 
ing  to  his  own  ideas,  and  passing  it  with 
scarcely  an  amendment.  The  disgust 
against  its  humility  was  general ;  and 
Mr.  Dickinson's  delight  at  its  passage 
was  the  only  circumstance  that  recon 
ciled  them  to  it.  The  vote  being  passed, 
although  further  observation  on  it  was  out 
of  order,  he  could  not  refrain  from  rising 
and  expressing  his  satisfaction,  and  con 
cluded  by  saying,  '  There  is  but  one  \vord, 
Mr.  President,  in  the  paper,  which  I  dis 
approve,  and  that  is  the  word  Congress  ; ' 
on  which  Benjamin  Harrison  rose  and 
said,  '  There  is  but  one  word  in  the  paper, 
Mr.  President,  of  which  I  approve,  and 
that  is  the  word  Congress."*  "  * 

Such  a  unanimity  of  feeling  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  liberty  was  not  a  short-lived 
wisdom,  the  happy  influence  of  the  first 

*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  Vol.  I.  pp.  9,  10. 


22       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

burst  of  enthusiasm.  During  the  period  of 
nearly  ten  years,  which  the  great  contest 
occupied,  men  the  most  unlike,  who 
were  ranked  under  the  banners  of  the 
same  national  party,  young  and  old,  en 
thusiastic  and  calm,  continued  to  act  thus 
in  concert,  one  portion  being  sufficiently 
wise,  and  the  other  sufficiently  firm,  to 
prevent  a  rupture.  And  when,  forty-six 
years  afterwards,*  after  having  taken  part 
in  the  violent  struggle  between  the  par 
ties  which  American  liberty  gave  birth  to, 
himself  the  head  of  the  victorious  party, 
Mr.  Jefferson  called  up  anew  the  recollec 
tions  of  his  youth,  we  may  be  sure,  that 
it  was  not  without  mingled  emotions  of 
pain  and  pleasure,  that  he  recurred  to  these 
noble  examples  of  moderation  and  justice. 
Insurrection,  resistance  to  established 
authority,  and  the  enterprise  of  forming  a 

*  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  his  Memoirs  in  1821. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  23 

new  government,  are  matters  of  grave  im 
portance  to  men  like  these,  to  all  men  of 
sense  and  virtue.  Those  who  have  the 
most  forecast  never  calculate  its  whole 
extent.  The  boldest  would  shudder  in 
their  hearts,  could  they  foresee  all  the 
dangers  of  the  undertaking.  Indepen 
dence  was  not  the  premeditated  purpose, 
not  even  the  wish,  of  the  colonies.  A 
few  bold  and  sagacious  spirits  either  saw 
that  it  would  come,  or  expressed  their  de 
sire  for  it,  after  the  period  of  resistance 
under  the  forms  of  law  had  passed.  But 
the  American  people  did  not  aspire  to  it, 
and  did  not  urge  their  leaders  to  make 
claim  to  it.  "  *  For  all  what  you  Ameri 
cans  say  of  your  loyalty,'  observed  the 
illustrious  Lord  Camden,  at  that  time 
Mr.  Pratt,  '  I  know  you  will  one  day 
throw  off  your  dependence  upon  this 
country  ;  and,  notwithstanding  your  boast 
ed  affection  to  it,  will  set  up  for  inde- 


24       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

pendence.'  Franklin  answered,  '  No  such 
idea  is  entertained  in  the  minds  of  the 
Americans  ;  and  no  such  idea  will  ever 
enter  their  heads,  unless  you  grossly  abuse 
them.'  « Very  true,'  replied  Mr.  Pratt, 
1  that  is  one  of  the  main  causes  I  see  will 
happen,  and  will  produce  the  event.'  "  * 
Lord  Camden  was  right  in  his  con 
jectures.  English  America  was  grossly 
abused;  and  yet,  in  1774,  and  even  in 
1775,  hardly  a  year  before  the  declara 
tion  of  independence,  and  when  it  was 
becoming  inevitable,  Washington  and  Jef 
ferson  thus  wrote  ;  "  Although  you  are 
taught,  I  say,  to  believe,  that  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  are  rebellious,  setting 
up  for  independency,  and  what  not,  give 
me  leave,  my  good  friend,  to  tell  you,  that 

you  are  abused,  grossly  abused 

I  can  announce  it  as  a  fact,  that  it  is  not 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  49G. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  25 

the  wish  or  interest  of  that  government, 
or  any  other  upon  this  continent,  sepa 
rately  or  collectively,  to  set  up  for  inde 
pendence  ;  but  this  you  may,  at  the  same 
time,  rely  on,  that  none  of  them  will  ever 
submit  to  the  loss  of  those  valuable  rights 
and  privileges,  which  are  essential  to  the 
happiness  of  every  free  state,  and  without 
which,  life,  liberty,  and  property  are  ren 
dered  totally  insecure."  *  "  Believe  me, 
dear  Sir,  there  is  not  in  the  British  em 
pire  a  man,  who  more  cordially  loves  a 
union  with  great  Britain,  than  I  do.  But, 
by  the  God  that  made  me,  I  will  cease  to 
exist  before  I  will  yield  to  a  connexion  on 
such  terms  as  the  British  Parliament  pro 
pose,  and,  in  this,  I  think  I  speak  the  sen 
timents  of  America.  We  want  neither 
inducement  nor  power  to  declare  and  as 
sert  a  separation.  It  is  will  alone,  which 

*  Letter    to    Robert    Mackenzie,    9    October,  1774  ; 
Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  400. 

ft      *        /        * 


26       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

is  wanting,  and  that    is    growing  apace, 
under  the  fostering  hand  of  our  King." 

George  the  Third,  in  point  of  fact, 
pledged  to  the  course  he  was  pursuing, 
and  acting  under  the  influence  of  passion 
ate  obstinacy,  animated  arid  sustained  his 
ministers  and  the  Parliament  in  the  strug 
gle.  In  vain  were  fresh  petitions  constant 
ly  presented  to  him,  always  loyal  and  re 
spectful  without  insincerity ;  in  vain  was 
his  name  commended  to  the  favor  and 
protection  of  God,  in  the  services  of  reli 
gion,  according  to  usual  custom.  He  paid 
no  attention,  either  to  the  prayers  which 
were  made  to  him,  or  to  those  which 
were  offered  to  Heaven  in  his  behalf;  and 
by  his  order  the  war  continued,  without 
ability,  without  vigorous  and  well-com 
bined  efforts,  but  with  that  hard  and 


*  Letter  to  Mr.  Randolph,  29  November,  1775 ;  Jef 
ferson's  Memoirs  and  Correspondence,  Vol.  I.  p.  153. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  27 

haughty  obstinacy,  which  destroys  in  the 
heart  all  affection  as  well  as  hope. 

Evidently  the  day  had  arrived,  when 
power  had  forfeited  its  claim  to  loyal  obe 
dience  ;  and  when  the  people  were  called 
upon  to  protect  themselves  by  force,  no 
longer  finding;  in  the  established  order  of 

c  o 

things  either  safety  or  shelter.  Such  a  mo 
ment  is  a  fearful  one,  big  with  unknown 
events;  one,  which  no  human  sagacity  can 
predict,  and  no  human  government  can 
control,  but  which,  notwithstanding,  does 
sometimes  come,  bearing  an  impress  stamp 
ed  by  the  hand  of  God.  If  the  struggle, 
which  begins  at  such  a  moment,  were  one 
absolutely  forbidden ;  if,  at  the  mysterious 
point  in  W7hich  it  arises,  this  great  social 
duty  did  not  press  even  upon  the  heads 
of  those  who  deny  its  existence,  the  hu 
man  race,  long  ago,  wholly  fallen  under 
the  yoke,  would  have  lost  all  dignity  as 
well  as  all  happiness. 


28        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

Nor  was  there  wanting  another  condi 
tion,  also  essential,  to  the  legitimate  char 
acter  of  the  insurrection  of  the  English 
colonies.  They  had  a  reasonable  chance 
of  success. 

No  vigorous  hand,  at  that  time,  had  the 
management  of  public  affairs  in  England. 
The  cabinet  of  Lord  North  was  not  re 
markable  for  talent  or  generosity  of  feel 
ing.  The  only  eminent  man  in  the  coun 
try,  Lord  Chatham,  was  in  the  opposi 
tion. 

The  times  of  extreme  tyranny  had  gone 
by.  Proscriptions,  judicial  and  military 
cruelties,  a  general  and  systematic  laying 
waste  of  the  country ;  all  those  terrible 
measures,  those  atrocious  sufferings,  which 
a  little  while  before  in  the  heart  of  Europe, 
in  a  cause  equally  just,  had  been  inflict 
ed  upon  the  Hollanders,  would  not  have 
been  tolerated  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
by  the  spectators  of  the  American  con- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  29 

test,  and,  indeed,  were  never  thought  of  by 
those  who  were  the  most  fiercely  engaged 
in  it.  On  the  contrary,  a  powerful  party 
was  formed,  and  eloquent  voices  were 
constantly  lifted  up,  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment  itself,  in  support  of  the  colonies  and 
of  their  rights.  This  is  the  glory  and 
distinction  of  a  representative  govern 
ment,  that  it  insures  to  every  cause  its 
champions,  and  brings  even  into  the  arena 
of  politics  those  defences,  which  were  in 
stituted  for  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws. 

Europe,  moreover,  could  not  be  a  pas 
sive  spectator  of  such  a  struggle.  Two 
great  powers,  France  and  Spain,  had  seri 
ous  losses  and  recent  injuries  in  America 
itself  to  avenge  upon  England.  Two  pow 
ers,  whose  greatness  was  of  recent  growth, 
Russia  and  Prussia,  displayed  in  favor  of 
liberal  opinions  a  sympathy  which  was  en 
lightened,  though  a  little  ostentatious,  and 
showed  themselves  disposed  to  seize  the 


30       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

occasion  of  bringing  discredit  upon  Eng 
land,  or  of  injuring  her,  in  the  name  of 
liberty  itself.  A  republic,  formerly  glori 
ous  and  formidable,  still  rich  and  honored, 
Holland,  could  not  fail  to  assist  America 
against  her  ancient  rival,  with  her  capital 
and  her  credit.  Finally,  among  the  powers 
of  an  inferior  rank,  all  those  whose  situa 
tion  rendered  the  maritime  supremacy  of 
England  odious  or  injurious  to  them,  could 
not  but  feel  in  favor  of  the  new  state  a 
good  will  ;  timid,  perhaps,  and  without 
immediate  effect,  but  still  useful  and  en 
couraging. 

By  the  rarest  good  fortune,  at  that  time 
every  thing  united  and  acted  in  concert  in 
favor  of  the  insurgent  colonies.  Their 
cause  was  just,  their  strength  already 
great,  and  their  characters  marked  by 
prudence  and  morality.  Upon  their  own 
soil,  laws  and  manners,  old  facts  and 
modern  opinions,  united  in  sustaining  and 


OF  WASHINGTON.  31 

animating  them  in  their  purpose.  Great 
alliances  were  preparing  for  them  in  Eu 
rope.  Even  in  the  councils  of  the  hostile 
mother  country,  they  had  powerful  sup 
port.  Never,  in  the  history  of  human  so 
cieties,  had  any  new  and  contested  right 
received  so  much  favor,  and  engaged  in 
the  strife  with  so  many  chances  of  suc 
cess. 

Still  by  how  many  obstacles  was  this 
undertaking  opposed !  What  efforts  and 
sacrifices  did  it  cost  to  the  generation 
which  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  ac 
complishing  it!  How  many  times  did  it 
appear  to  be,  and  indeed  really  was,  on 
the  point  of  being  utterly  defeated  ! 

In  the  country  itself,  among  the  people 
in  appearance  and  sometimes  in  reality 
so  unanimous,  independence,  when  once 
declared,  soon  met  numerous  and  active 
adversaries.  In  1775,  hardly  had  the  first 
guns  been  fired  at  Lexington,  when,  in  the 


32        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

midst  of  the  general  enthusiasm,  a  compa 
ny  of  Connecticut  troops  was  requisite  in 
New  York,  to  sustain  the  republican  party 
against  the  Tories  or  Loyalists,  a  name 
which  the  partisans  of  the  mother  coun 
try  had  proudly  adopted.*  In  1775,  New 
York  sent  important  supplies  to  the  Eng 
lish  army  under  the  orders  of  General 
Gage.f  In  1776,  when  General  Howe  ar 
rived  upon  the  shores  of  the  same  province, 
a  crowd  of  inhabitants  manifested  their 
joy,  renewed  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the 
crown,  and  took  up  arms  in  its  behalf.t 
The  feeling  was  the  same  in  New  Jersey, 
and  the  Loyalist  corps,  levied  in  these  two 
provinces,  equalled  in  numbers  the  contin 
gents  furnished  by  them  to  the  republican 
armies.^  In  the  midst  of  this  population, 

*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  187. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  229.  |  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  381. 

§  Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  47.      Sparks's  Lift  of  Washington, 
Vol.  I.  p.  261. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  33 

Washington  himself  was  not  in  safety  ;  a 
conspiracy  was  formed  to  deliver  him  up 
to  the  English,  and  some  members  of  his 
own  guard  were  found  to  be  engaged  in 
it.*  Maryland  and  Georgia  were  divided. 
In  North  and  South  Carolina,  in  1776 
and  1779,  two  Loyalist  regiments,  one  of 
fifteen  hundred,  and  the  other  of  seven 
hundred  men,  were  formed  in  a  few  days. 
Against  these  domestic  hostilities,  Con 
gress  and  the  local  governments  used,  at 
first,  extreme  moderation ;  rallying  the 
friends  of  independence  without  troubling 
themselves  with  its  opponents  ;  demand 
ing  nothing  from  those  who  would  have 
refused  ;  everywhere  exerting  themselves 
by  means  of  writings,  correspondence,  as 
sociations,  and  the  sending  of  commis 
sioners  into  the  doubtful  counties,  to  con 
firm  their  minds,  to  remove  their  scruples, 

*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  364. 
3 


34       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

and  to  demonstrate  to  them  the  justice  of 
their  cause,  and  the  necessity  there  was 
for  the  steps  they  had  taken.  For,  gen 
erally,  the  Loyalist  party  was  founded 
upon  sincere  and  honorable  sentiments  ; 
fidelity,  affection,  gratitude,  respect  for 
tradition,  and  a  love  of  established  order; 
and  from  such  sentiments  it  derived  its 
strength.  For  some  time  the  government 
contented  itself  with  watching  over  this 
party  and  keeping  it  under  restraint ;  in 
some  districts,  they  even  entered  into 
treaty  with  it,  to  secure  its  neutrality. 
But  the  course  of  events,  the  imminence 
of  the  danger,  the  urgent  need  of  assist 
ance,  and  the  irritation  of  the  passions, 
soon  led  to  a  more  rigorous  course.  Ar 
rests  and  banishment  became  frequent. 
The  prisons  were  filled.  Confiscations  of 
property  commenced.  Local  committees 
of  public  safety  disposed  of  the  liberty  of 
their  fellow-citizens,  on  the  evidence  of 


OF    WASHINGTON.  35 

general  notoriety.  Popular  violence,  in 
more  than  one  instance,  was  added  to  the 
arbitrary  severities  of  the  magistrates.  A 
printer  in  New  York  was  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  the  Loyalists ;  a  troop  of  horse 
men,  who  had  come  from  Connecticut  for 
that  purpose,  broke  his  presses  and  car 
ried  off  his  types.*  The  spirit  of  hatred 
and  vengeance  was  awakened.  In  Geor 
gia  and  South  Carolina,  on  the  western 
frontier  of  Connecticut  and  of  Pennsylva 
nia,  the  struggle  between  the  two  parties 
was  marked  with  cruelty.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  legitimate  character  of  the  cause, 
notwithstanding  the  virtuous  wisdom  of  its 
leaders,  the  infant  republic  was  experi 
encing  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war. 

Evils  and  dangers,  still  more  serious, 
were  every  day  springing  from  the  nation 
al  party  itself.  The  motives  which  led 

*  Marshall's  Lift  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  240. 


36       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

to  the  insurrection  were  pure  ;  too  pure 
to  consist  for  any  length  of  time,  among 
the  mass  at  least,  with  the  imperfections 
of  humanity.  When  the  people  were 
appealed  to  in  the  name  of  rights  to  be 
maintained,  and  honor  to  be  saved,  the 
first  impulse  was  a  general  one.  But, 
however  great  may  be  the  favor  of  Provi 
dence  in  such  great  enterprises,  the  toil  is 
severe,  success  is  slow,  and  the  general 
ity  of  men  soon  become  exhausted  through 
weariness  or  impatience.  The  colonists 
had  not  taken  up  arms  to  escape  from  any 
atrocious  tyranny;  they  had  not,  like  their 
ancestors  in  fleeing  from  England,  the 
first  privileges  of  life  to  regain,  personal 
security  and  religious  toleration.  They 
were  no  longer  stimulated  by  any  urgent 
personal  motive  ;  there  were  no  social 
spoils  to  be  divided,  no  old  and  deep- 
seated  passions  to  gratify.  The  contest 
was  prolonged  without  creating  in  thou- 


OF   WASHINGTON,  37 

sands  of  retired  families  those  powerful 
interests,  those  coarse  but  strong  ties, 
which,  in  our  old  and  violent  Europe, 
have  so  often  given  to  revolutions  their 
force  and  their  misery.  Every  day,  al 
most  every  step  towards  success,  on  the 
contrary,  called  for  new  efforts  and  new 
sacrifices.  "  I  believe,  or  at  least  I  hope," 
wrote  Washington,  "  that  there  is  public 
virtue  enough  left  among  us  to  deny  our 
selves  every  thing  but  the  bare  necessaries 
of  life,  to  accomplish  this  end."*  A  sublime 
hope,  one  which  deserved  to  be  rewarded 
as  it  was,  by  the  triumph  of  the  cause, 
but  which  could  not  raise  to  its  own  lofty- 
elevation  all  that  population,  whose  free 
and  concurring  support  was  the  condition, 
and  indeed  the  only  means,  of  success. 
Depression,  lukewarmness,  inactivity,  the 


*  Letter    to   Bryan  Fairfax ;  Washington's    Writings, 
Vol.  II.  p.  395. 


38  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

desire  to  escape  from  labors  and  expenses, 
soon  became  the  essential  evil,  the  press 
ing  danger,  against  which  the  leaders  had 
constantly  to  struggle.  In  point  of  fact, 
it  was  among  the  leaders,  in  the  front 
ranks  of  the  party,  that  enthusiasm  and 
devotedness  were  maintained.  In  other 
instances  of  similar  events,  the  impulse 
of  perseverance  and  self-sacrifice  has  come 
from  the  people.  In  America,  it  was  the 
independent  and  enlightened  classes,  who 
were  obliged  to  animate  and  sustain  the 
people  in  the  great  contest  in  which  they 
were  engaged  for  their  country's  sake. 
In  the  ranks  of  civil  life,  the  magistrates, 
the  rich  planters,  the  leading  merchants, 
and,  in  the  army,  the  officers,  always 
showed  themselves  the  most  ardent  and 
the  most  firm  ;  from  them,  example  as 
well  as  counsel  proceeded,  and  the  peo 
ple  at  large  followed  them  with  diffi 
culty,  instead  of  urging  them  on.  "  Take 


OF  WASHINGTON.  39 

none  for  officers  but  gentlemen"  was 
the  recommendation  of  Washington,  after 
the  war  had  lasted  three  years. *  So 
fully  had  he  been  taught  by  experience, 
that  these  were  everywhere  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  independence,  and  ready  to 
risk  every  thing  and  suffer  every  thing  to 
insure  its  success. 

These,  too,  were  the  only  persons  who, 
at  least  on  their  own  account,  could  sus 
tain  the  expenses  of  the  war,  for  the  State 
made  no  provision  for  them.  Perhaps  no 
army  ever  lived  in  a  more  miserable  con 
dition  than  the  American  army.  Almost 
constantly  inferior  in  numbers  to  the 
enemy  ;  exposed  to  a  periodical  and,  in 
some  sort,  legalized  desertion  ;  called  upon 
to  march,  encamp,  and  fight,  in  a  country 
of  immense  extent,  thinly  peopled,  in 
parts  uncultivated,  through  vast  swamps 

*  la  liis  instructions  to  Colonel  George  Baylor,  9th  of 
January,  1777  ;  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IV.  p.  269. 


40       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

and  savage  forests,  without  magazines  of 
provisions,  often  without  money  to  pur 
chase  them,  and  without  the  power  to 
make  requisitions  of  them  ;  obliged,  in 
carrying  on  war,  to  treat  the  inhabitants, 
and  to  respect  them  and  their  property,  as 
if  it  had  consisted  of  troops  in  garrison  in 
a  time  of  peace,  this  army  was  exposed 
to  great  exigencies,  and  a  prey  to  un 
heard-of  sufferings.  "  For  some  days," 
writes  Washington,  in  1777,  "there 
has  been  little  less  than  a  famine  in 
camp.  A  part  of  the  army  have  been 
a  week  without  any  kind  of  flesh,  and 
the  rest  three  or  four  days.  The  sol 
diers  are  naked  and  starving." 

"We  find  gentlemen  reprobating  the  meas 
ure  of  going  into  winter  quarters  ;  as 
much  as  if  they  thought  the  soldiers  were 
made  of  stocks  or  stones,  and  equally  in 
sensible  of  frost  and  snow  ;  and,  moreover, 
as  if  they  conceived  it  easily  practicable, 


OF  WASHINGTON.  41 

for  an  inferior  army,  under  the  disadvan 
tages  I  have  described  ours  to  be,  to  con 
fine  a  superior  one,  in  all  respects  well- 
appointed  and  provided  for  a  winter's  cam 
paign,  within  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
to  cover  from  depredation  and  waste  the 

States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Jersey." 

"  I  can  assure  those  gentlemen,  that  it 
is  a  much  easier  and  less  distressing  thing 
to  draw  remonstrances  in  a  comfortable 
room  by  a  good  fireside,  than  to  occupy  a 
cold,  bleak  hill,  and  sleep  under  frost 
and  snow,  without  clothes  or  blankets.  I 
feel  superabundantly  for  the  poor  soldiers, 
and,  from  my  soul,  I  pity  those  miseries 
which  it  is  neither  in  my  power  to  relieve 
nor  prevent."  * 

Congress,  to  whom  he  applied,  could 
do  hardly  more  than  he  himself.  Without 
the  strength  necessary  to  enforce  the  exe- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  V.  pp.  199, 200. 


42       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

cution  of  its  orders  ;  without  the  power 
of  passing  any  laws  upon  the  subject  of 
taxes ;  obliged  to  point  out  the  necessi 
ties  of  the  country,  and  to  solicit  the 
thirteen  confederated  States  to  provide 
for  them,  in  the  face  of  an  exhausted 
people,  a  ruined  commerce,  and  a  de 
preciated  paper  currency  ;  this  assembly, 
though  firm  and  prudent,  W7as  often  able 
to  do  nothing  more  than  address  new  en 
treaties  to  the  States,  and  clothe  Wash 
ington  with  new  powers  ;  instructing  him 
to  obtain  from  the  local  governments,  re 
inforcements,  money,  provisions,  and  ev 
ery  thing  requisite  to  carry  on  the  war. 

Washington  accepted  this  difficult  trust ; 
and  he  soon  found  a  new  obstacle  to  sur 
mount,  a  new  danger  to  remove.  No 
bond  of  union,  no  central  power,  had 
hitherto  united  the  colonies.  Each  one 
having  been  founded  and  governed  separ 
ately,  each,  on  its  own  account,  provid- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  43 

ing  for  its  own  safety,  for  its  public 
works,  for  its  most  trifling  as  well  as  most 
important  affairs,  they  had  contracted  hab 
its  of  isolation  and  almost  of  rivalship, 
which  the  distrustful  mother  country  had 
taken  pains  to  foster.  In  their  relations 
to  each  other,  even  ambition  and  the  de 
sire  of  conquest  insinuated  themselves, 
as  if  the  States  had  been  foreign  to  each 
other  ;  the  most  powerful  ones  some 
times  attempted  to  absorb  the  neighbour 
ing  establishments,  or  to  deprive  them 
of  their  authority ;  and  in  their  most  im 
portant  interest,  the  defence  of  their  fron 
tiers  against  the  savages,  they  often  fol 
lowed  a  selfish  course  of  policy,  and  mu 
tually  abandoned  one  another. 

It  was  a  most  arduous  task  to  combine 
at  once,  into  one  system,  elements  which 
had  hitherto  been  separated,  without  hold 
ing  them  together  by  violence,  and,  while 
leaving  them  free,  to  induce  them  to  act  in 


44       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

concert  under  the  guidance  of  one  and  the 
same  power.  The  feelings  of  ^individuals 
no  less  than  public  institutions,  passions 
as  well  as  laws,  were  opposed  to  this  re 
sult.  The  colonies  wanted  confidence  in 
each  other.  All  of  them  were  jealous  of 
the  power  of  Congress,  the  new  and  un 
tried  rival  of  the  local  assemblies  ;  they 
were  still  more  jealous  of  the  army,  which 
they  regarded  as  being,  at  the  same  time, 
dangerous  to  the  independence  of  the 
States  and  to  the  liberty  of  the  citizens. 
Upon  this  point,  new  and  enlightened 
opinions  were  in  unison  with  popular 
feeling.  The  danger  of  standing  armies, 
and  the  necessity,  in  free  countries,  of 
perpetually  resisting  and  diminishing  their 
power,  their  influence,  and  the  contagion 
of  their  morals,  wras  one  of  the  favorite 
maxims  of  the  eighteenth  century.  No 
where,  perhaps,  was  this  maxim  more 
generally  or  more  warmly  received  than 


OF  WASHINGTON.  45 

in  the  colonies  of  America.  In  the  bosom 
of  the  national  party,  those  who  were  the 
most  ardent,  the  most  firmly  resolved  to 
carry  on  the  contest  with  vigor  and  to  the 
end,  were  also  the  most  sensitive  friends 
of  civil  liberty ;  that  is  to  say,  these  were 
the  men,  who  looked  upon  the  army,  a 
military  spirit,  military  discipline,  with  the 
most  hostile  and  suspicious  eye.  Thus  it 
happened,  that  obstacles  were  met  with 
precisely  in  that  quarter  in  which  it  was 
natural  to  look  for,  and  to  expect  to  find, 
the  means  of  success. 

And  in  this  army  itself,  the  object  of 
so  much  distrust,  there  prevailed  the  J 
most  independent  and  democratic  spirit. 
All  orders  were  submitted  to  discussion. 
Each  company  claimed  the  privilege  of 
acting  on  its  own  account  and  for  its 
own  convenience.  The  troops  of  the  dif 
ferent  States  were  unwilling  to  obey  any 
other  than  their  own  generals ;  and  the 


46        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

soldiers,  any  other  than  officers,  some 
times  directly  chosen,  and  always  at 
least  approved,  by  themselves.  And  the 
day  after  a  defeat  which  it  was  necessary 
to  retrieve,  or  a  victory  which  was  to  be 
followed  up,  whole  regiments  would  break 
up  and  go  home,  it  being  impossible  to 
prevail  upon  them  to  wait  even  a  few  days 
for  the  arrival  of  their  successors. 

A  painful  doubt,  mingled  with  appre 
hension,  arises  in  the  mind  at  the  con 
templation  of  the  many  and  severe  suf 
ferings  with  which  the  course  of  the  most 
just  revolution  is  attended,  and  of  the 
:  many  and  perilous  chances  to  which  a 
revolution,  the  best  prepared  for  success, 
is  exposed.  But  this  doubt  is  rash  and 
unjust.  Man,  through  pride,  is  blind  in 
his  confident  expectation,  and,  through 
weakness,  is  no  less  blind  in  his  despair. 
The  most  just  and  successful  revolution 
brings  into  light  the  evil,  physical  and 


OF  WASHINGTON.  47 

moral,  always  great,  which  lies  hidden  in 
every  human  society.  But  the  good  does 
not  perish  in  this  trial,  nor  in  the  unholy 
connexion  which  it  is  thus  led  to  form ; 
however  imperfect  and  alloyed,  it  pre 
serves  its  power  as  well  as  its  rights ;  if 
it  be  the  leading  principle  in  men,  it  pre 
vails,  sooner  or  later,  in  events  also,  and 
instruments  are  never  wanting  to  accom 
plish  its  victory. 

Let  the  people  of  the  United  States  for 
ever  hold  in  respectful  and  grateful  remem 
brance,  the  leading  men  of  that  genera 
tion  which  achieved  their  independence, 
arid  founded  their  government !  Frank 
lin,  Adams,  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
Jay,  Henry,  Mason,  Greene,  Knox,  Mor 
ris,  Pinckney,  Clinton,  Trumbull,  Rut- 
ledge  ;  it  would  be  impossible  to  enumer 
ate  them  all ;  for,  at  the  time  the  contest 
began,  there  were  in  each  colony,  and  in 
almost  every  county  in  each  colony,  some 


48       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

men  already  honored  by  their  fellow  citi 
zens,  already  well  known  in  the  defence 
of  public  liberty,  influential  by  their  prop 
erty,  talent,  or  character  ;  faithful  to  an 
cient  virtues,  yet  friendly  to  modern  im 
provement  ;  sensible  to  the  splendid  ad 
vantages  of  civilization,  and  yet  attached 
to  simplicity  of  manners  ;  high-toned  in 
their  feelings,  but  of  modest  minds,  at 
the  same  time  ambitious  and  prudent  in 
their  patriotic  impulses  ;  men  of  rare  en 
dowments,  who  expected  much  from  hu 
manity,  without  presuming  too  much  upon 
themselves,  and  who  risked  for  their 
country  far  more  than  they  could  receive 
from  her,  even  after  her  triumph. 

It  was  to  these  men,  aided  by  God  and 
seconded  by  the  people,  that  the  success 
of  the  cause  was  due.  Among  them, 
Washington  was  the  chief. 

While  yet  young,  indeed  very  young,  he 
had  become  an  object  of  great  expectation. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  49 

Employed  as  an  officer  of  militia  in  some 
expeditions  to  the  western  frontier  of 
Virginia  against  the  French  and  Indians, 
he  had  made  an  equal  impression  on  his  su 
periors  and  his  companions,  the  English 
governors  and  the  American  people.  The 
former  wrote  to  London  to  recommend  him 
to  the  favor  of  the  King.*  The  latter,  as 
sembled  in  their  churches,  to  invoke  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  their  arms,  listened 
with  enthusiasm  to  an  eloquent  preacher, 
Samuel  Davies,  who,  in  praising  the  cour 
age  of  the  Virginians,  exclaimed,  "As  a  re 
markable  instance  of  this,  I  may  point  out 
to  the  public  that  heroic  youth,  Colonel 
Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  hope 
Providence  has  hitherto  preserved  in  so 
signal  a  manner  for  some  important  ser 
vice  to  his  country."  f 

It  is  also  related,  that  fifteen  years  af- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  97. 
f  August  17th,  1755.     Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  89. 
4 


50       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

terwards,  in  a  journey  which  Washington 
made  to  the  West,  when  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio,  an  old  Indian  at  the  head  of  his 
tribe  requested  to  see  him,  and  told  him 
that,  at  the  battle  of  Monongahela,  he  had 
several  times  discharged  his  rifle  at  him, 
and  directed  his  warriors  to  do  the  same  ; 
but,  to  their  great  surprise,  their  balls  had 
no  effect.  Convinced  that  Washington 
was  under  the  protection  of  the  Great 
Spirit,  he  had  ceased  to  fire  at  him,  and 
had  now  come  to  pay  his  respects  to  a 
man  who,  by  the  peculiar  favor  of  Heaven, 
could  never  die  in  battle. 

Men  are  fond  of  thinking  that  Provi 
dence  has  permitted  them  to  penetrate  its 
secret  purposes.  The  anecdote  of  the  old 
chief  became  current  in  America,  and 
formed  the  subject  of  a  drama,  called  The 
Indian  Prophecy* 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  475. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  51 

Never,  perhaps,  was  this  vague  expec 
tation,  this  premature  confidence  in  the 
destiny,  I  hardly  venture  to  say  the  pre 
destination,  of  any  individual  more  natu 
ral,  than  in  the  case  of  Washington ;  for 
there  never  was  a  man  who  appeared  to  be, 
and  who  really  was,  from  his  youth,  and  in 
his  early  actions,  more  consistent  with  his 
future  career,  and  more  adapted  to  the 
cause,  upon  which  he  was  destined  to  be 
stow  success. 

He  was  a  planter  by  inheritance  and 
inclination,  and  devoted  to  those  agricul 
tural  interests,  habits,  and  modes  of  life, 
which  constituted  the  chief  strength  of 
American  society.  Fifty  years  later,  Jef 
ferson,  in  order  to  justify  his  confidence  in 
the  purely  democratic  organization  of  this 
society,  said,  "  It  cannot  deceive  us  as 
long  as  we  remain  virtuous,  and  I  think 
we  shall,  as  long  as  agriculture  is  our 


52       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

principal  object."  From  the  age  of 
twenty  years,  Washington  considered  ag 
riculture  as  his  principal  employment, 
making  himself  well  acquainted  with  the 
prevalent  tone  of  feeling,  and  sympathiz 
ing  with  the  virtuous  and  simple  habits  of 
his  country.  Travelling,  field-sports,  the 
survey  of  distant  tracts  of  land,  inter 
course,  friendly  or  hostile,  with  the  Indi 
ans  on  the  frontier,  these  formed  the 
amusements  of  his  youth.  He  was  of  that 
bold  and  hardy  temperament,  which  takes 
pleasure  in  those  adventures  and  perils, 
which,  in  a  vast  and  wild  country,  man  has 
to  encounter.  He  had  that  strength  of 
body,  perseverance,  and  presence  of  mind, 
which  insure  success. 

In  this  respect,  at  his  entrance  into  life, 
he  felt  a  slightly  presumptuous  degree  of 
self-confidence.  He  writes  to  Governor 

*  Edinburgh  Review,  July,  1830,  p.  498, 


OF  WASHINGTON.  53 

Dinwiddie  ;  "For  my  own  part  I  can  an 
swer,  that  I  have  a  constitution  hardy 
enough  to  encounter  and  undergo  the  most 
severe  trials,  and,  I  flatter  myself,  resolu 
tion  to  face  what  any  man  dares."* 

To  a  spirit  like  this,  war  was  a  more 
congenial  employment  than  field-sports  or 
travelling.  As  soon  as  an  opportunity  of 
fered,  he  embraced  the  employment  with 
that  ardor,  which,  in  the  early  period  of 
life,  does  not  reveal  a  man's  capacity  so 
certainly  as  his  taste.  In  1754,  it  is 
said,  when  George  the  Second  was  hear 
ing  a  despatch  read,  which  had  been 
transmitted  by  the  Governor  of  Virginia, 
and  in  which  Washington,  then  a  young 
major,  ended  the  narrative  of  his  first  bat 
tle  with  the  words,  "  I  heard  the  bullets 
whistle,  and,  believe  me,  there  is  some 
thing  charming  in  the  sound  ;  "  the  King 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  29. 


54  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

observed,  "  He  would  not  say  so,  if  he  had 
been  used  to  hear  many."  Washington 
was  of  the  King's  opinion ;  for,  when  the 
major  of  the  Virginia  militia  had  become 
the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  United 
States,  some  one  having  asked  him  if  it 
were  true,  that  he  had  ever  expressed 
such  a  sentiment,  he  replied,  "  If  I  said 
so,  it  was  when  I  was  young."  * 

But  his  youthful  ardor,  which  was  at  the 
same  time  serious  and  calm,  had  the  author 
ity  which  belongs  to  a  riper  age.  From  the 
first  moment  in  which  he  embraced  the  mil 
itary  profession,  he  took  pleasure,  far  more 
than  in  the  excitement  of  battle,  in  that 
noble  exercise  of  the  understanding  and 
the  will,  armed  with  power  in  order  to 
accomplish  a  worthy  purpose,  that  power 
ful  combination  of  human  action  and  good 
fortune,  which  kindles  and  inspires  the 
most  elevated  as  well  as  the  most  simple 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  39. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  55 

minds.  Born  in  the  first  rank  of  colonial 
society,  trained  in  the  public  schools  in 
the  midst  of  his  countrymen,  he  took  his 
place  naturally  at  their  head;  for  he  was  at 
once  their  superior  and  their  equal;  formed 
to  the  same  habits,  skilled  in  the  same  ex 
ercises  ;  a  stranger,  like  them,  to  all  ele 
gant  learning,  without  any  pretensions 
to  scientific  knowledge,  claiming  nothing 
for  himself,  and  exerting  only  in  the  public 
service  that  ascendency,  which  always 
attends  a  judicious  and  penetrating  un 
derstanding,  and  a  calm  and  energetic 
character,  in  a  disinterested  position. 

In  1754,  he  was  just  appearing  in 
society,  and  entering  upon  his  military 
career.  It  is  a  young  officer  of  two-and- 
twenty,  who  commands  battalions  of  mi 
litia,  and  corresponds  with  the  represen 
tative  of  the  king  of  England.  In  neither 
of  these  relations  does  he  feel  any  em 
barrassment.  He  loves  his  associates ; 


56       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

he  respects  the  king  and  the  governor  ; 
but  neither  affection  nor  respect  alters  the 
independence  of  his  judgment  or  of  his 
conduct.  By  an  admirable,  instinctive 
power  of  action  and  command,  he  sees 
and  apprehends,  by  what  means  and  upon 
what  terms  success  is  to  be  obtained  in 
the  enterprise  he  has  undertaken  on  be 
half  of  his  king  and  his  country.  And 
these  terms  he  imposes,  these  means  he 
insists  upon  ;  from  the  soldiers  he  exacts 
all  that  can  be  accomplished  by  discipline, 
promptness,  and  activity  in  the  service  ; 
from  the  governor,  that  he  shall  discharge 
his  duty  in  respect  to  the  pay  of  the 
soldiers,  the  furnishing  of  supplies,  and 
the  choice  of  officers.  In  every  case, 
whether  his  words  or  opinions  are  sent  up 
to  the  superior  to  whom  he  is  rendering  his 
account,  or  pass  down  to  the  subordinates 
under  his  command,  they  are  equally 
precise,  practical,  and  decided,  equally 


OF  WASHINGTON.  57 

marked  by  that  authority  which  truth  and 
necessity  bestow  upon  the  man  who  ap 
pears  in  their  name.  From  this  moment, 
Washington  is  the  leading  American  of 
his  time,  the  faithful  and  conspicuous 
representative  of  his  country,  the  man 
who  will  best  understand  and  best  serve 
her,  whether  he  be  called  upon  to  fight 
or  negotiate  for  her,  to  defend  or  to  gov 
ern  her. 

It  is  not  the  issue  alone  which  has  re 
vealed  this.  His  contemporaries  fore 
saw  it.  Colonel  Fairfax,  his  first  patron, 
wrote  to  him,  in  1756,  "  Your  good  health 
and  fortune  are  the  toast  at  every  table."* 
In  1759,  chosen,  for  the  first  time,  to  § 
the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Virginia,  at 
the  moment  when  he  was  taking  his  seat 
in  the  House,  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Robin 
son,  presented  to  him,  in  warm  and  ani- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  II.  p.  145. 


58       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

mated  terms,  the  thanks  of  the  House  for 
the  services  which  he  had  rendered  to  his 
country.  Washington  rose  to  make  his 
acknowledgments  for  so  distinguished  an 
honor  ;  but  such  was  his  embarrassment, 
that  he  could  not  speak  a  single  word  ; 
he  blushed,  hesitated,  and  trembled.  The 
Speaker  at  once  came  to  his  aid,  and 
said,  "  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington  ;  your 
modesty  equals  your  valor,  and  that  sur 
passes  the  power  of  any  language  that  I 
possess."*  Finally,  in  1774,  on  the  eve 
of  the  great  struggle,  after  the  separation 
of  the  first  Congress  held  for  the  purpose 
of  making  preparations  to  meet  it,  Patrick 
,  Henry  replied  to  those  that  inquired  of 
him,  who  was  the  first  man  in  Congress, 
"  If  you  speak  of  eloquence,  Mr.  Rut- 
ledge,  of  South  Carolina,  is  the  greatest 
orator ;  but,  if  you  speak  of  solid  informa- 

*  Sparks's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  I.  p.  107. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  59 

tion  and  sound  judgment,  Colonel  Wash 
ington  is  unquestionably  the  greatest  man 
on  that  floor."  * 

However,  to  say  nothing  of  eloquence, 
Washington  had  not  those  brilliant  and 
extraordinary  qualities,  which  strike  the 
imagination  of  men  at  the  first  glance. 
He  did  not  belong  to  the  class  of  men  of 
vivid  genius,  who  pant  for  an  opportunity 
of  display,  are  impelled  by  great  thoughts 
or  great  passions,  and  diffuse  around 
them  the  wealth  of  their  own  natures, 
before  any  outward  occasion  or  necessity 
calls  for  its  employment.  Free  from  all 
internal  restlessness  and  the  promptings 
and  pride  of  ambition,  Washington  did  not 
seek  opportunities  to  distinguish  himself, 
and  never  aspired  to  the  admiration  of 
the  world. \  This  spirit  so  resolute,  this 
heart  so  lofty,  was  profoundly  calm  and 

*  Ibid. 


60       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

modest.  Capable  of  rising  to  a  level 
with  the  highest  destiny,  he  might  have 
lived  in  ignorance  of  his  real  power  with 
out  suffering  from  it,  and  have  found,  in  the 
cultivation  of  his  estates,  a  satisfactory 
employment  for  those  energetic  faculties, 
which  were  to  be  proved  equal  to  the  task 
of  commanding  armies  and  founding  a 
government. 

But,  when  the  opportunity  presented  it 
self,  when  the  exigence  occurred,  with 
out  effort  on  his  part,  without  any 
surprise  on  the  part  of  others,  indeed 
rather,  as  we  have  just  seen,  in  con 
formity  with  their  expectations,  the  pru 
dent  planter  stood  forth  a  great  man. 
He  had,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  those 
two  qualities  which,  in  active  life,  make 
men  capable  of  great  things.  He  could 
confide  strongly  in  his  own  views,  and  act 
resolutely  in  conformity  with  them,  with 
out  fearing  to  assume  the  responsibility. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  61 

It  is  always  a  weakness  of  conviction, 
that  leads  to  weakness  of  conduct ;  for 
man  derives  his  motives  from  his  own 
thoughts,  more  than  from  any  other  source. 
From  the  moment  that  the  quarrel  began, 
Washington  was  convinced,  that  the  cause 
of  his  country  was  just,  and  that  success 
must  necessarily  follow  so  just  a  cause,  1 
in  a  country  already  so  powerful.  Nine 
years  were  to  be  spent  in  war  to  obtain 
independence,  and  ten  years  in  political 
discussion  to  form  a  system  of  government. 
Obstacles,  reverses,  enmities,  treachery, 
mistakes,  public  indifference,  personal  an 
tipathies,  all  these  incumbered  the  progress 
of  Washington,  during  this  long  period. 
But  his  faith  and  hope  were  never  shaken 
for  a  moment.  In  the  darkest  hours, 
when  he  was  obliged  to  contend  against 
the  sadness  which  hung  upon  his  own 
spirits,  he  says,  "  I  cannot  but  hope  and 
believe,  that  the  good  sense  of  the  people 


62       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

will   ultimately   get    the    better  of  their 

prejudices I  do  not  believe,  that 

Providence  has  done  so  much  for  nothing. 

The  great  Governor  of  the  universe 

has  led  us  too  long  and  too  far  on  the 
road  to  happiness  and  glory  to  forsake  us 
in  the  midst  of  it.  By  folly  and  improper 
conduct,  proceeding  from  a  variety  of 
causes,  we  may  now  and  then  get  bewil 
dered  ;  but  I  hope  and  trust,  that  there 
is  good  sense  and  virtue  enough  left  to 
recover  the  right  path  before  we  shall  be 
entirely  lost."  * 

And  at  a  later  period,  when  that  very 
France  which  had  so  well  sustained  him 
during  the  war,  brought  upon  him  embar 
rassments  and  perils  more  formidable  than 
war ;  when  Europe,  upheaved  from  its 
foundations,  was  pressing  heavily  upon 
his  thoughts,  and  perplexing  his  mind,  no 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  pp.  5,  383,  392. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  63 

less  than  America,  he  still  continued  to 
hope  and  to  trust.  "  The  rapidity  of  na 
tional  revolutions  appears  no  less  aston 
ishing  than  their  magnitude.  In  what 
they  will  terminate  is  known  only  to  the 
Great  Ruler  of  events ;  and,  confiding  in 
his  wisdom  and  goodness,  we  may  safely 
trust,  the  issue  to  him,  without  perplexing 
ourselves  to  seek  for  that,  which  is  be 
yond  human  ken;  only  taking  care  to  per 
form  the  parts  assigned  to  us,  in  a  way 
that  reason  and  our  own  consciences  ap 
prove." 

The  same  strength  of  conviction,  the 
same  fidelity  to  his  own  judgment,  which 
he  manifested  in  his  estimate  of  things  gen 
erally,  attended  him  in  his  practical  man 
agement  of  business.  Possessing  a  mind 
of  admirable  freedom,  rather  in  virtue  of 
the  soundness  of  its  views,  than  of  its  fer- 

*  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  331. 


64       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

tility  and  variety,  he  never  received  his 
opinions  at  second  hand,  nor  adopted 
them  from  any  prejudice  ;^  but,  on  ev 
ery  occasion,  he  formed  them  himself, 
by  the  simple  observation  or  attentive 
study  of  facts,  unswayed  by  any  bias 
or  prepossession,  always  acquainting  him 
self  personally  with  the  actual  truth,  j 

Thus,  when  he  had  examined,  reflect 
ed,  and  made  up  his  mind,'  nothing  dis 
turbed  him  ;  he  did  not  permit  himself  to 
be  thrown  into,  and  kept  in,  a  state  of 
perpetual  doubt  and  irresolution,  either 
by  the  opinions  of  others,  or  by  love  of 
applause,  or  by  fear  of  opposition.  He 
trusted  in  God  and  in  himself.  "  If  any 
power  on  earth  could,  or  the  Great  Power 
above  would,  erect  the  standard  of  infalli 
bility  in  political  opinions,  there  is  no  be 
ing  that  inhabits  the  terrestrial  globe,  that 
would  resort  to  it  with  more  eagerness 
than  myself,  so  long  as  I  remain  a  servant 


OF   WASHINGTON.  65 

of  the  public.  But  as  I  have  found  no 
better  guide  hitherto,  than  upright  inten 
tions  and  close  investigation,  I  shall  ad 
here  to  those  maxims,  while  I  keep  the 
watch."* 

4  To  this  strong  and  independent  under 
standing,  he  joined  a  great  courage,  always 
ready  to  act  upon  conviction,  and  fearless  of 
consequences.  )"  What  I  admire  in  Chris 
topher  Columbus,"  said  Turgot,  "  is,  not 
his  having  discovered  the  new  world,  but 
his  having  gone  to  search  for  it  on  the 
faith  of  an  opinion."  Whether  the  occa 
sion  was  of  great  or  little  moment,  wheth 
er  the  consequences  were  near  at  hand  or 
remote,  Washington,  when  once  convinced, 
never  hesitated  to  move  onward  upon  the 
faith  of  his  conviction.  One  would  have 
inferred,  from  his  firm  and  quiet  resolu 
tion,  that  it  was  natural  to  him  to  act  with 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  71. 
5 


66       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

decision,  and  assume  responsibility ;  — 
a  certain  sign  of  a  genius  born  to  com 
mand  ;  an  admirable  power,  when  united 
to  a  conscientious  disinterestedness. 
4  On  the  list  of  great  men,  if  there  be 
some  who  have  shone  with  a  more  daz1- 
zling  lustre,  there  are  none  who  have 
been  exposed  to  a  more  complete  test,  in 
war  and  in  civil  government ;  resisting 
the  king,  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  the 
people,  in  the  cause  of  legitimate  authori 
ty  ;  commencing  a  revolution  and  ending  it\ 
From  the  first  moment,  his  task  was  clearly 
manifest  in  all  its  extent  and  all  its  diffi 
culty.  To  carry  on  the  war,  he  had  not 
merely  to  create  an  army. .  'To  this  work, 
always  so  difficult,  the  creating  power  it 
self  was  wanting.  The  United  States  had 
neither  a  government  nor  an  army.  Con 
gress,  a  mere  phantom,  whose  unity  was 
only  in  name,  had  neither  authority,  nor 
power,  nor  courage,  and  did  nothing. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  67 

Washington  was  obliged,  from  his  camp, 
not  only  to  make  constant  solicitations,  but 
to  suggest  measures  for  adoption,  to  point 
out  to  Congress  what  course  they  should 
pursue,  if  they  would  prevent  both  them 
selves  and  the  army  from  becoming  an 
idle  name.  His  letters  were  read  while 
they  were  in  session,  and  supplied  the  sub 
ject  of  their  debates;  debates,  character 
ized  by  inexperience,  timidity,  and  distrust. 
They  rested  satisfied  with  appearances 
and  promises.  They  sent  messages  to 
the  local  governments.  They  expressed 
apprehensions  of  military  power.  Wash 
ington  replied  respectfully,  obeyed,  and 
then  insisted  ;  demonstrated  the  decep- 
tiveness  of  appearances,  and  the  necessi 
ty  of  a  real  force  to  give  him  the  sub 
stance  of  the  power,  of  which  he  had 
the  name,  and  to  insure  to  the  army  the 
success  which  they  expected  of  it.  Brave 
and  intelligent  men,  devoted  to  the  cause, 


68  CHARACTER   AJNTD    INFLUENCE 

were  not  wanting  in  this  assembly,  so  little 
experienced  in  the  art  of  government. 
Some  of  them  went  to  the  camp,  exam 
ined  for  themselves,  had  interviews  with 
Washington,  and  brought  with  them,  on 
their  return,  the  weight  of  their  own  ob 
servations  and  of  his  advice.  The  assem 
bly  gradually  grew  wiser  and  bolder,  and 
gained  confidence  in  themselves  and  in  their 
general.  They  adopted  the  measures,  and 
conferred  upon  him  the  powers,  which 
were  necessary.  He  then  entered  into 
correspondence  and  negotiations  with  lo 
cal  governments,  legislatures,  committees, 
magistrates,  and  private  citizens  ;  placing 
facts  before  their  eyes  ;  appealing  to  their 
good  sense  and  their  patriotism ;  availing 
himself,  for  the  public  service,  of  his  per 
sonal  friendships ;  dealing  prudently  with 
democratic  scruples  and  the  sensitiveness 
of  vanity;  maintaining  his  own  dignity; 
speaking  as  became  his  high  station,  but 


OF  WASHINGTON.  69 

without  giving  offence,  and  with  persua 
sive  moderation  ;  though  wisely  heedful  of 
human  weakness,  being  endowed  with  the 
power,  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  of  in 
fluencing  men  by  honorable  sentiments  and 
by  truth. 

And  when  he  had  succeeded,  when  Con 
gress  first,  and  afterwards  the  different 
States,  had  granted  him  the  necessary 
means  of  making  an  army,  his  task  was  not 
finished;  the  business  of  the  war  had  not 
yet  commenced  ;  the  army  did  not  exist. 
Here,  too,  he  was  obstructed  by  a  com 
plete  inexperience,  the  same  want  of  uni 
ty,  the  same  passion  for  individual  inde 
pendence,  the  same  conflict  between  pa 
triotic  purposes  and  disorganizing  im 
pulses.  Here,  too,  he  was  obliged  to  bring 
discordant  elements  into  harmony;  to  keep 
together  those  which  were  constantly 
ready  to  separate  ;  to  enlighten,  to  per 
suade,  to  induce  ;  to  use  personal  influ- 


70       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

ence;  and,  without  endangering  his  dignity 
or  his  power,  to  obtain  the  moral  fidelity, 
the  full  and  free  support,  both  of  the  offi 
cers  and  soldiers.  Then  only  could  Wash 
ington  act  as  a  general,  and  turn  his  at 
tention  to  the  war.  Or,  rather,  it  was 
during  the  war,  in  the  midst  of  its  scenes, 
its  perils,  and  its  hazards,  that  he  was 
constantly  obliged  to  recommence,  both 
in  the  country  and  the  army  itself,  this 
work  of  organization  and  government. 

His  military  capacity  has  been  called  in 
question.  He  did  not  manifest,  it  is  true, 
those  striking  displays  of  it  which,  in 
Europe,  have  given  renown  to  great  cap 
tains.  Operating  with  a  small  army  over 
an  immense  space,  great  manoeuvres  and 
great  battles  were  necessarily  unknown  to 
him.  But  his  superiority,  acknowledged 
and  declared  by  his  companions,  the  con 
tinuance  of  the  war  during  nine  years,  and 
its  final  success,  are  also  to  be  taken  as 


OF  WASHINGTON.  71 

proofs  of  his  merit,  and  may  well  jus 
tify  his  reputation.  His  personal  bra 
very  was  chivalrous  even  to  rashness, 
and  he  more  than  once  abandoned  him 
self  to  this  impulse  in  a  manner  pain 
ful  to  contemplate.  More  than  once, 
the  American  militia,  seized  with  terror, 
took  to  flight,  and  brave  officers  sac 
rificed  their  lives  to  infuse  courage  into 
their  soldiers.  In  1776,  on  a  similar  occa 
sion,  Washington  indignantly  persisted  in 
remaining  on  the  field  of  battle,  exerting 
himself  to  arrest  the  fugitives  by  his 
example  and  even  by  his  hand.  "  We 
made,"  wrote  General  Greene  the  next 
day,  ".a  miserable,  disorderly  retreat  from 
New  York,  owing  to  the  disorderly  con 
duct  of  the  militia.  Fellows's  and  Par- 
sons's  brigades  ran  away  from  about  fifty 
men,  and  left  his  Excellency  on  the 
ground  within  eighty  yards  of  the  enemy, 
so  vexed  at  the  infamous  conduct  of  the 


72       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

troops,  that  he  sought  death  rather  than 
life."* 

On  more  than  one  occasion,  also,  when 
the  opportunity  appeared  favorable,  he  dis 
played  the  boldness  of  the  general  as  well 
as  the  intrepidity  of  the  man.  He  has  been 
called  the  American  Fabius,  it  being  said 
that  the  art  of  avoiding  battle,  of  baffling 
the  enemy,  and  of  temporizing,  was  his 
talent  as  well  as  his  taste.  In  1775,  be 
fore  Boston,  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
this  Fabius  wished  to  bring  it  to  a  close 
by  a  sudden  attack  upon  the  English 
army,  which  he  flattered  himself  he  should 
be  able  to  destroy.  Three  successive 
councils  of  war,  forced  him  to  abandon  his 
design,  but  without  shaking  his  conviction, 
and  he  expressed  bitterregret  at  the  result. f 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IV.  p.  94. 
f  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  III.  pp.  82,  127,  259, 
287,290,291,292,297. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  73 

In  1776,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  when 
the  weather  was  extremely  cold,  in  the 
midst  of  a  retreat,  with  troops  half  disband 
ed,  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  prepar 
ing  to  leave  him  and  return  to  their  own 
homes,  Washington  suddenly  assumed  an 
offensive  position,  attacked,  one  after  an 
other,  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  the  dif 
ferent  corps  of  the  English  army,  and 
gained  two  battles  in  eight  hours. 

Moreover,  he  understood  what  was  even 
a  much  higher  and  much  more  difficult 
art,  than  that  of  making  war ;  he  knew 
how  to  control  and  direct  it.  War  was  to 
him  only  a  means,  always  kept  subordinate 
to  the  main  and  final  object,  —  the  success 
of  the  cause,  the  independence  of  the 
country.  When,  in  1798,  the  prospect  of 
a  possible  war  betwreen  the  United  States 
and  France  occurred  to  disturb  the  repose 
of  Mount  Vernon,  though  already  ap 
proaching  to  old  age  and  fond  of  his  retire- 


74       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

ment,  he  thus  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams,  his 
successor  in  the  administration  of  the  re 
public.  "  It  was  not  difficult  for  me  to 
perceive  that,  if  we  entered  into  a  serious 
contest  with  France,  the  character  of  the 
war  would  differ  materially  from  the  last 
we  were  engaged  in.  In  the  latter,  time, 
caution,  and  worrying  the  enemy,  until 
we  could  be  better  provided  with  arms 
and  other  means,  and  had  better  disci 
plined  troops  to  carry  it  on,  was  the  plan 
for  us.  But  if  we  should  be  engaged  with 
the  former,  they  ought  to  be  attacked  at 
every  step."  * 

This  system  of  active  and  aggressive 
war,  which,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  he 
proposed  to  adopt,  was  one  which,  twen 
ty-two  years  before,  in  the  vigor  of  life, 
neither  the  advice  of  some  of  the  gen 
erals,  his  friends,  nor  the  slanders  of  some 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XL  p.  309. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  75 

others,  his  enemies,  nor  the  complaints  of 
the  States  which  were  laid  waste  by  the 
enemy,  nor  popular  clamor,  nor  the  desire 
of  glory,  nor  the  recommendations  of 
Congress  itself,  had  been  able  to  induce 
him  to  follow.  "  I  know  the  unhappy 
predicament  I  stand  in ;  I  know  that 
much  is  expected  of  me ;  I  know,  that 
without  men,  without  arms,  without  am 
munition,  without  any  thing  fit  for  the  ac 
commodation  of  a  soldier,  little  is  to  be 
done ;  and,  what  is  mortifying,  I  know 
that,  I  cannot  stand  justified  to  the  world 
without  exposing  rny  own  weakness,  and 
injuring  the  cause,  which  I  am  determined 

not  to  do My  own  situation  is  so 

irksome  to  me  at  times,  that,  if  I  did  not 
consult  the  public  good  more  than  my  own 
tranquillity,  I  should,  long  ere  this,  have 
put  every  thing  on  the  cast  of  a  die."  * 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  III.  p.  284. 


76       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

He  persisted  in  this  course  during  nine 
years.  Only  when  the  protracted  nature 
of  the  contest  and  the  general  indiffer 
ence  were  occasioning  a  feeling  of  dis 
couragement,  akin  to  apathy,  did  he  de 
termine  to  strike  a  blow,  to  encounter 
some  brilliant  hazard,  to  make  the  coun 
try  aware  of  the  presence  of  his  army,  and 
relieve  the  people's  hearts  of  some  of  their 
apprehensions.  It  was  thus  that,  in  1777, 
he  fought  the  battle  of  Germantown.  And 
when,  in  the  midst  of  reverses,  endured 
with  heroic  patience,  he  was  asked  what 
he  should  do  if  the  enemy  continued  to 
advance,  if  Philadelphia,  for  instance, 
should  be  taken  ;  he  replied,  "  We  will 
retreat  beyond  the  Susquehanna  river, 
and  thence,  if  necessary,  to  the  Allegany 
mountains." 

Besides  this  patriotic  calmness  and  pa- 

*  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  I.  p.  221. 


OF    WASHINGTON.  77 

tience,  he  displayed  the  same  quality  in 
another  form,  still  more  praiseworthy. 
He  saw,  without  chagrin  and  ill-humor, 
the  successes  of  his  inferiors  in  command. 
Still  more,  when  the  public  service  ren 
dered  it  advisable,  he  supplied  them  large 
ly  with  the  means  and  opportunity  of  gain 
ing  them.  A  disinterestedness  worthy  of 
all  praise,  rarely  found  in  the  greatest 
minds  ;  as  wise  as  it  was  noble,  in  the 
midst  of  the  envious  tendencies  of  a  dem 
ocratic  society  ;  and  which,  perhaps,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  hope,  was  in  his  case 
attended  with  a  deep  and  tranquil  con 
sciousness  of  his  superiority,  and  of  the 
glory  that  would  follow  him. 

When  the  horizon  was  dark,  when  re 
peated  checks  and  a  succession  of  misfor 
tunes  seemed  to  throw  a  doubt  upon  the 
capacity  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  and 
gave  birth  to  disorders,  intrigues,  and  hos 
tile  insinuations,  a  powerful  voice  was 


78       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

quickly  raised  in  his  behalf,  —  the  voice 
of  the  army,  which  loaded  Washington 
with  testimonials  of  affectionate  respect, 
and  placed  him  beyond  the  reach  of  com 
plaints  and  hostile  attacks. 

In  the  winter  of  1777  and  1778,  while 
the  army  was  encamped  at  Valley  Forge, 
exposed  to  the  most  severe  hardships, 
some  restless  and  treacherous  spirits  or 
ganized  against  Washington  a  conspiracy 
of  considerable  magnitude,  which  penetra 
ted  into  the  Congress  itself.  He  opposed 
himself  to  it  with  stern  frankness,  saying, 
without  reserve  and  without  cautious  in 
sincerity,  all  he  thought  of  his  adversaries, 
and  leaving  his  conduct  to  speak  for  itself. 
Such  a  course,  at  such  a  moment,  was 
putting  much  at  hazard.  But  the  public 
respect  in  which  he  was  held  was  so  pro 
found,  the  friends  of  Washington,  Lord 
Stirling,  Lafayette,  Greene,  Knox,  Pat 
rick  Henry,  Henry  Laurens,  supported 


OF  WASHINGTON.  79 

him  so  warmly,  the  movement  of  opinion 
in  the  army  was  so  decided,  that  he  tri 
umphed  almost  without  defending  him 
self.  The  principal  framer  of  this  con 
spiracy,  an  Irishman  by  the  name  of 
Conway,  after  having  sent  in  his  resig 
nation,  continued  to  spread  against  him 
the  most  injurious  charges.  General  Cad- 
walader  resented  this  conduct ;  a  duel 
was  the  consequence  ;  and  Conway,  se 
verely  wounded,  and  believing  himself  to 
be  near  his  death,  wrote  as  follows,  to 
Washington. 

"  I  find  myself  just  able  to  hold  the 
pen  during  a  few  minutes,  and  take  this 
opportunity  of  expressing  my  sincere  grief 
for  having  done,  written,  or  said  any 
thing  disagreeable  to  your  Excellency. 
My  career  will  soon  be  over ;  therefore 
justice  and  truth  prompt  me  to  declare 
my  last  sentiments.  You  are,  in  my  eyes, 
the  great  and  good  man.  May  you  long 


80       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

enjoy  the  love,  veneration,  and  esteem  of 
these  States,  whose  liberties  you  have  as 
serted  by  your  virtues."* 

In  1779,  the  officers  of  a  New  Jersey 
regiment,  imperfectly  paid,  burdened  with 
debts  contracted  in  the  service,  anxious 
about  their  future  prospects  and  those  of 
their  families,  made  an  official  declaration 
to  the  legislature  of  that  State,  that  they 
would  resign  in  a  body,  if  they  were  not 
better  treated.  Washington  blamed  them 
extremely,  and  required  of  them  to  with 
draw  their  declaration  ;  but  they  persisted 
in  their  course.  "  It  was,  and  still  is,  our 
determination  to  march  with  our  regi 
ment,  and  to  do  the  duty  of  officers,  until 
the  legislature  should  have  a  reasonable 
time  to  appoint  others,  but  no  longer. 
We  beg  leave  to  assure  your  Excellency, 
that  we  have  the  highest  sense  of  your 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  V.  p.  517. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  81 

ability  and  virtues  ;  that  executing  jour 
orders  has  ever  given  us  pleasure  ;  that  we 
love  the  service,  and  love  our  country ; 
but  when  that  country  gets  so  lost  to  vir 
tue  and  justice,  as  to  forget  to  support  its 
servants,  it  then  becomes  their  duty  to 
retire  from  its  service."  * 

Thus,  respect  for  Washington  appeared 
conspicuously,  even  in  the  cabals  formed 
against  him,  and  was  mingled  with  dis 
obedience  itself. 

In  the  state  of  distress  and  disorganiza 
tion,  into  which  the  American  army  was 
perpetually  falling,  the  personal  influence 
of  Washington,  the  affection  which  was 
felt  for  him,  the  desire  of  imitating  his 
example,  the  fear  of  losing  his  esteem,  or 
even  of  giving  him  pain,  deserve  to  be 
enumerated  among  the  principal  causes, 
which  kept  many  men,  both  officers  and 

*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  IV.  p.  47. 
6 


82       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

soldiers,  at  their  posts,  kindled  anew  their 
zeal,  and  formed  among  them  that  mili 
tary  esprit  de  corps,  that  friendship  of  the 
camp,  which  is  a  feeling  of  great  strength, 
and  a  fine  compensating  influence  in  so 
rough  a  profession. 

It  is  a  privilege  of  great  men,  and  often 
a  corrupting  one,  to  inspire  affection  and 
devotedness,  without  feeling  them  in  re 
turn.  This  vice  of  greatness  Washington 
was  exempt  from.  He  loved  his  as 
sociates,  his  officers,  his  army.  It  was 
not  merely  from  a  sense  of  justice  and 
duty,  that  he  sympathized  in  their  suffer 
ings,  and  took  their  interests  into  his  own 
hands  with  an  indefatigable  zeal.  He 
regarded  them  with  a  truly  tender  feel 
ing,  marked  by  compassion  for  the  suffer 
ings  he  had  seen  them  endure,  and  by  grat 
itude  for  the  attachment  which  they  had 
shown  to  him.  And  when,  in  1783,  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  at  Frances's  tavern, 


OF  WASHINGTON.  83 

in  New  York,  the  principal  officers,  at  the 
moment  of  their  final  separation,  passed 
in  silence  before  him,  each  one  pressing 
his  hand  as  he  went  by,  he  was  himself 
moved  and  agitated,  at  heart  and  in  his 
countenance,  to  a  degree  that  seemed 
hardly  consistent  with  the  firm  composure 
of  his  spirit. 

Nevertheless,  he  never  showed  to  the 
army  any  weakness,  or  any  spirit  of  unwor 
thy  compliance.  He  never  permitted  it  to 
be  the  first  object  of  consideration  to  itself, 
and  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  inculcate 
upon  it  this  truth,  that  subordination  and 
implicit  submission,  not  only  to  its  coun 
try,  but  to  the  civil  power,  was  its  nat 
ural  condition,  and  its  first  duty. 

Upon  this  subject,  he  gave  it,  on  three  im 
portant  occasions,  the  most  admirable  and 
the  most  effective  of  lessons,  that  of  exam 
ple.  In  1782,  he  rejected,  "  with  great  and 


84       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

painful  surprise,"  *  (these  are  his  expres 
sions,)  the  crown  and  the  supreme  power, 
which  some  discontented  officers  were  of 
fering  to  him.  In  1783,  on  the  eve  of  the 
disbanding  of  the  troops,  having  been  in 
formed  that  the  draft  of  an  address  was 
circulating  through  the  army,  and  that  a 
general  meeting  was  about  to  be  held  to 
deliberate  upon  the  means  of  obtaining  by 
force,  that  which  Congress,  in  spite  of 
justice,  had  refused  to  grant,  he  express 
ed,  in  the  orders  of  the  day,  his  strong 
disapprobation  of  the  measure,  himself 
called  together  another  meeting,  attended 
in  person,  recalled  the  officers  to  the  con 
sideration  of  their  duty  and  the  public 
good,  and  then  withdrew,  before  any  dis 
cussion  took  place,  wishing  to  leave  to 
the  parties  themselves  the  merit  of  retrac 
ing  their  steps,  which  was  done  promptly 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  300. 


OF   WASHINGTON.  85 

and  generally.*  Finally,  in  1784  and 
1787,  when  the  officers  in  their  retirement 
attempted  to  form  among  themselves  the 
Society  of  Cincinnati,  in  order  to  preserve 
some  bond  of  union  in  their  dispersed 
condition,  and  for  the  mutual  aid  of  them 
selves  and  their  families,  as  soon  as  Wash 
ington  saw  that  the  uneasiness  and  dis 
trust  of  a  jealous  people  were  awakened 
by  the  mere  name  of  a  military  society,  a 
military  order,  notwithstanding  the  per 
sonal  inclination  which  he  felt  towards 
the  institution,  he  not  only  caused  a 
change  to  be  made  in  its  statutes,  but 
publicly  declined  being  its  president,  and 
ceased  to  take  any  part  in  it.f 

By  a  singular  coincidence,  about  the 
same  time,  Gustavus  the  Third,  king  of 
Sweden,  forbade  the  Swedish  officers  who 


*  IbiJ.,  Vol.  VIII.  pp.  392-400. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  pp.  26,  127. 


86       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

had  served  in  the  French  army  during  the 
American  war,  to  wear  the  order  of  the 
Cincinnati,  "  on  the  ground,  that  the  insti 
tution  had  a  republican  tendency  not  suited 
to  his  government." 

"  If  we  cannot  convince  the  people  that 
their  fears  are  ill-founded,  we  should,  at 
least,  in  a  degree  yield  to  them,"  said 
Washington,  upon  this  subject.  f  He  did  not 
yield,  even  to  the  people,  when  the  public 
interest  would  have  suffered  from  such  a 
course;  but  he  had  too  just  a  sense  of  the 
relative  importance  of  things  to  display 
the  same  inflexibility,  when  merely  per 
sonal  interests  or  private  feelings,  how 
ever  reasonable,  were  in  question. 

When  the  object  of  the  war  was  ob 
tained,  when  he  had  taken  leave  of  his 
companions  in  arms,  mingled  with  his  af- 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  56. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  35. 


OF    WASHINGTON.  87 

fectionate  regret,  and  the  joy  which  he 
felt  in  the  prospect  of  repose  after  victory, 
another  feeling  may  be  perceived  in  his 
mind,  faint  indeed,  and  perhaps  even  un 
known  to  himself,  and  this  was,  a  regret 
in  leaving  his  military  life,  that  noble  pro 
fession  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  best 
years  with  so  much  distinction.  It  was  a 
highly  congenial  employment  to  Washing 
ton,  whose  genius  was  methodical,  and 
more  firm  than  inventive  ;  who  was  just, 
and  full  of  good-will  to  all  men,  but  grave, 
somewhat  cold,  born  for  command  rather 
than  struggle;  in  action, loving  order,  disci 
pline,  and  subordination  of  ranks;  and  pre 
ferring  the  simple  and  vigorous  exercise  of 
power,  in  a  good  cause,  to  the  compli 
cated  intrigues  and  impassioned  debates 
of  politics. 

"  The  scene  is  at  last  closed 

On  the  eve  of  Christmas,  I  entered  these 
doors  an  older  man  by  nine  years  than 


88       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

when  I  left  them I  am  just  be 
ginning  to  experience  that  ease  and  free 
dom  from  public  cares,  which,  however 
desirable,  takes  some  time  to  realize.  It 
was  not  till  lately  I  could  get  the  better 
of  my  usual  custom  of  ruminating,  as  soon 
as  I  waked  in  the  morning,  on  the  busi 
ness  of  the  ensuing  day ;  and  of  my  sur 
prise  at  finding,  after  revolving  many 
things  in  my  mind,  that  I  was  no  longer  a 
public  man,  nor  had  any  thing  to  do  with 

public  transactions I   hope    to 

spend  the  remainder  of  my  days  in  cultivat 
ing  the  affections  of  good  men,  and  in  the 

practice  of  the  domestic  virtues 

The  life  of  a  husbandman,  of  all  others, 
is  the  most  delightful.  It  is  honorable,  it 
is  amusing,  and,  with  judicious  manage 
ment,  it  is  profitable I  have  not 

only  retired  from  all  public  employments, 
but  I  am  retiring  within  myself,  and  shall 
be  able  to  view  the  solitary  walk,  and 


OF  WASHINGTON.  89 

tread  the  paths  of  private  life,  with  a 
heartfelt  satisfaction.  Envious  of  none,  I 
am  determined  to  be  pleased  with  all ; 
and  this,  my  dear  friend,  being  the  order 
for  my  march,  I  will  move  gently  down 
the  stream  of  life,  until  I  sleep  with  my 
fathers."  * 

Washington,  in  uttering  such  language, 
was  not  merely  expressing  a  momentary 
feeling,  the  enjoyment  of  repose,  after  long- 
protracted  toil,  and  of  liberty,  after  a  se 
vere  confinement.  The  tranquil  and  active 
life  of  a  great  landed  proprietor;  those  em 
ployments,  full  of  interest  and  free  from 
anxiety  ;  that  domestic  authority,  seldom 
disputed,  and  attended  with  little  respon 
sibility  ;  that  admirable  harmony  between 
the  intelligence  of  man  and  the  prolific 
power  of  nature;  that  sober  and  simple 
hospitality  ;  the  high  satisfaction  which 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  pp.  1,  17, 18,  21, 323. 


90       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

springs  from  consideration  and  good-will 
obtained  without  effort,  —  these  were  tru 
ly  suited  to  his  taste,  and  were  the  objects 
of  constant  preference  to  his  mind.  He 
would  probably  have  chosen  this  very  life. 
He  enjoyed  it ;  and  he  enjoyed,  besides, 
all  that  could  be  added  to  it  by  the  pub 
lic  gratitude  and  his  glory,  which  were 
delightful  in  spite  of  their  importunate 
claims  upon  him. 

Always  of  a  serious  and  practical  turn 
of  mind,  he  made  improvements  in  the 
cultivation  of  his  estates,  embellished  his 
mansion-house,  occupied  himself  with  the 
local  interests  of  Virginia,  traced  the  out 
line  of  that  great  system  of  internal  nav 
igation  from  east  to  west,  which  was  des 
tined,  at  a  future  period,  to  put  the  Unit 
ed  States  in  possession  of  one-half  the 
new  world,  established  schools,  put  his 
papers  in  order,  carried  on  an  extensive 
correspondence,  and  took  great  pleasure  in 


OF  WASHINGTON.  91 

receiving,  under  his  roof,  and  at  his  table, 
his  attached  friends.  "  It  is  my  wish," 
he  wrote  to  one  of  them,  a  few  days  after 
his  return  to  Mount  Vernon,  "  that  the 
mutual  friendship  and  esteem,  which  have 
been  planted  and  fostered  in  the  tumult 
of  public  life,  may  not  wither  and  die  in 
the  serenity  of  retirement.  We  should 
rather  amuse  the  evening  hours  of  life  in 
cultivating  the  tender  plants,  and  bringing 
them  to  perfection  before  they  are  trans 
planted  to  a  happier  clime." 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1784, 
M.  de  Lafayette  came  to  Mount  Vernon. 
Washington  felt  for  him  a  truly  paternal 
affection,  the  tenderest,  perhaps,  of  which 
his  life  presents  any  trace.  Apart  from 
the  services  rendered  by  him,  from  the 
personal  esteem  he  inspired,  and  from 
the  attractiveness  of  his  character,  apart 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  5. 


92        CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

even  from  the  enthusiastic  devotion  which 
M.  de  Lafayette  testified  for  him,  this 
elegant  and  chivalrous  young  nobleman, 
man,  who  had  escaped  from  the  court  of 
Versailles  to  dedicate  his  sword  and  his 
fortune  to  the  yeomanry  of  America,  was 
singularly  pleasing  to  the  grave  American 
general.  It  was,  as  it  were,  a  homage 
paid  by  the  nobility  of  the  old  world  to 
his  cause  and  his  person  ;  a  sort  of  con 
necting  tie  between  him  and  that  French 
society,  which  was  so  brilliant,  so  intel 
lectual,  and  so  celebrated.  In  his  modest 
elevation  of  mind,  he  was  flattered  as  well 
as  touched  by  it,  and  his  thoughts  rested 
with  an  emotion  full  of  complacency  upon 
this  young  friend,  whose  life  was  like  that 
of  none  other,  and  who  had  quitted  every 
thing  to  serve  by  his  side. 

"  In  the  moment  of  our  separation,"  he 
wrote  to  him,  "  upon  the  road  as  I  trav 
elled,  and  every  hour  since,  I  have  felt  all 


OF  WASHINGTON.  93 

that  love,  respect,  and  attachment  for  you, 
with  which  length  of  years,  close  connex 
ion,  and  your  merits  have  inspired  me.  I 
often  asked  myself,  as  our  carriages  separ 
ated,  whether  that  was  the  last  sight  I 
should  ever  have  of  you.  And  though  I 
wished  to  say  No,  my  fears  answered  Yes. 
I  called  to  mind  the  days  of  my  youth, 
and  found  they  had  long  since  fled  to  re 
turn  no  more';  that  I  was  now  descend 
ing  the  hill  I  had  been  fifty-two  years 
climbing,  and  that,  though  I  was  blest 
with  a  good  constitution,  I  was  of  a  short 
lived  family,  and  might  soon  expect  to  be 
entombed  in  the  mansion  of  my  fathers. 
These  thoughts  darkened  the  shades,  and 
gave  a  gloom  to  the  picture,  and  conse 
quently  to  my  prospect  of  seeing  you 
again.  But  I  will  not  repine  ;  I  have  had 
my  day."  * 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  77. 


94       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

Notwithstanding  this  sad  presentiment, 
and  his  sincere  taste  for  repose,  his 
thoughts  dwelt  constantly  upon  the  condi 
tion  and  affairs  of  his  country.  No  man 
can  separate  himself  from  the  place  in 
which  he  has  once  held  a  distinguished 
position.  "  Retired  as  I  am  from  the 
world,"  he  writes  in  1786,  "  I  frankly  ac 
knowledge  I  cannot  feel  myself  an  uncon 
cerned  spectator."  The  spectacle  deep 
ly  affected  and  disturbed  him.  The  Con 
federation  was  falling  to  pieces.  Con 
gress,  its  sole  bond  of  union,  was  without 
power,  not  even  daring  to  make  use  of 
the  little  that  was  intrusted  to  it.  The 
moral  weakness  of  men  was  added  to  the 
political  weakness  of  institutions.  The 
States  were  falling  a  prey  to  their  hos 
tilities,  to  their  mutual  distrust,  to  their 
narrow  and  selfish  views.  The  treaties, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  189. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  95 

which  had  sanctioned  the  national  inde 
pendence,  were  executed  only  in  an  im 
perfect  and  a  precarious  manner.  The 
debts  contracted,  both  in  the  old  and 
new  world,  were  unpaid.  The  taxes 
destined  to  liquidate  them  never  found 
their  way  into  the  public  treasury.  Ag 
riculture  was  languishing  ;  commerce  was 
declining ;  anarchy  was  extending.  In 
all  parts  of  the  country  itself,  whether 
enlightened  or  ignorant,  whether  the 
blame  was  laid  on  the  government,  or 
the  want  of  government,  the  discontent 
was  general.  In  Europe,  the  reputation 
of  the  United  States  was  rapidly  sinking. 
It  was  asked  if  there  would  ever  be  any 
United  States.  England  encouraged  this 
doubt,  looking  forward  to  the  hour  when 
she  might  profit  by  it. 

The  sorrow  of  Washington  was  extreme, 
and  he  was  agitated  and  humbled  as  if  he 
had  been  still  responsible  for  the  course  of 


96       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

events.  "  What,  gracious  God !  "  he  wrote, 
on  learning  the  troubles  in  Massachusetts, 
"is  man,  that  there  should  be  such  incon 
sistency  and  perfidiousness  in  his  conduct  ? 
It  was  but  the  other  day,  that  we  wrere 
shedding  our  blood  to  obtain  the  constitu 
tions  under  which  we  now  live  ;  constitu 
tions  of  our  own  choice  and  making  ;  and 
now  we  are  unsheathing  the  sword  to 
overturn  them.  The  thing  is  so  unac 
countable,  that  I  hardly  know  how  to  re 
alize  it,  or  to  persuade  myself,  that  I  am 
not  under  the  illusion  of  a  dream." 
"  We  have  probably  had  too  good  an  opin 
ion  of  human  nature  in  forming  our  con 
federation.  Experience  has  taught  us, 
that  men  will  not  adopt  and  carry  into 
execution  measures  the  best  calculated 
for  their  own  good,  without  the  interven- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  221. 


OF   WASHINGTON.  97 

tion  of  a  coercive  power."  *  "  From  the 
high  ground  we  stood  upon,  to  be  so  fallen, 
so  lost,  is  really  mortifying."  f  "  In  re 
gretting,  which  I  have  often  done  with  the 
keenest  sorrow,  the  death  of  our  much  la 
mented  friend,  General  Greene,  I  have 
accompanied  it  of  late  with  a  query, 
whether  he  would  not  have  preferred  such 
an  exit  to  the  scenes  which,  it  is  more 
than  probable,  many  of  his  compatriots 
may  live  to  bemoan. "t 

Nevertheless,  the  course  of  events,  and 
the  progress  of  general  good  sense,  were 
also  mingling  hope  with  this  patriotic 
sorrow,  —  a  hope  full  of  anxiety  and 
uneasiness,  the  only  one  which  the  im 
perfection  of  human  things  permits  ele 
vated  minds  to  form,  but  which  is  sufficient 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  187. 
t  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  167. 
|  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  226. 
7 


98       CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

to  keep  up  their  courage.  Throughout 
the  whole  Confederation,  the  evil  was  felt 
and  a  glimpse  was  caught  of  the  remedy. 
The  jealousies  of  the  States,  local  inter 
ests,  ancient  habits,  democratic  prejudices, 
were  all  strongly  opposed  to  the  sacrifices 
which  were  requisite  in  order  to  form  a 
government  in  which  the  central  power 
should  be  stronger  and  more  prominent. 
Still,  the  spirit  of  order  and  union  ;  the 
love  of  America  as  their  country ;  regret 
at  seeing  it  decline  in  the  esteem  of  man 
kind  ;  the  disgust  created  by  the  petty,  in 
terminable,  and  profitless  disturbances  of 
anarchy ;  the  obvious  nature  of  its  evils, 
the  perception  of  its  dangers  ;  all  the  just 
opinions  and  noble  sentiments  which  filled 
the  mind  of  Washington,  were  gradually 
extending  themselves,  gathering  additional 
strength,  and  preparing  the  way  for  a  hap 
pier  future.  Four  years  had  hardly  elapsed 
since  the  peace,  which  had  sanctioned 


OF  WASHINGTON.  99 

the  acquisition  of  independence,  when  a 
national  Convention,  brought  together  by 
a  general  spontaneous  feeling,  assembler 
at  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of  reform 
ing  the  federal  government.  Commencing 
its  session  the  14th  day  of  May,  1787,  it 
made  choice  of  Washington  for  its  presi 
dent  on  the  same  day.  From  the  14th 
of  May  to  the  17th  of  September,  it  was 
occupied  in  forming  the  Constitution, 
which  has  governed  the  United  States  of 
America  for  fifty  years  ;  deliberating  with 
closed  doors,  and  under  influences  the  most 
intelligent  and  the  most  pure  that  ever 
presided  over  such  a  work.  On  the  30th 
of  April,  1789,  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  Constituent  Assembly  wras  commenc 
ing  its  session  at  Paris,  Washington,  hav 
ing  been  chosen  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
took  an  oath,  as  President  of  the  Republic, 
to  maintain  and  put  in  force  the  new 
born  Constitution,  in  the  presence  of  the 


100  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

great  functionaries  and  legislative  bodies 
which  had  been  created  by  it. 
{Never  did  a  man  ascend  to  the  highest 
dignity  by  a  more  direct  path,  nor  in  com 
pliance  with  a  more  universal  wish,  nor 
with  an  influence  wider  and  more  wel 
come.  }  He  hesitated  much.  In  leaving 
the  command  of  the  army,  he  had  openly 
announced,  and  had  sincerely  promised 
himself,  that  he  should  live  in  retirement, 
a  stranger  to  public  affairs.  To  change 
his  plans,  to  sacrifice  his  tastes  and  his  re 
pose,  for  very  uncertain  success,  perhaps 
to  be  charged  with  inconsistency  and  am 
bition,  this  was  to  him  an  immense  ef 
fort.  The  assembling  of  Congress  was 
delayed;  the  election  of  Washington  to 
the  presidency,  though  known,  had  not 
been  officially  announced  to  him.  "For 
myself,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  General 
Knox,  "  the  delay  may  be  compared  to  a 
reprieve ;  for,  in  confidence  I  tell  you, 


OF  WASHINGTON.  101 

(with  the  world  it  would  obtain  little 
credit,)  that  my  movements  to  the  chair  of 
government  will  be  accompanied  by  feel 
ings  not  unlike  those  of  a  culprit,  who  is 
going  to  the  place  of  his  execution  ;  so 
unwilling  am  I,  in  the  evening  of  a  life 
nearly  consumed  in  public  cares,  to  quit  a 
peaceful  abode  for  an  ocean  of  difficulties, 
without  that  competency  of  political  skill, 
abilities,  and  inclination,  which  are  neces 
sary  to  manage  the  helm."  The  message 
at  length  arrived,  and  he  commenced  his 
journey.  In  his  Diary,  he  writes  ;  "  About 
ten  o'clock,  I  bade  adieu  to  Mount  Vernon, 
to  private  life,  and  to  domestic  felicity ; 
and,  with  a  mind  oppressed  with  more 
anxious  and  painful  sensations  than  I  have 
words  to  express,  set  out  for  New  York, 
with  the  best  disposition  to  render  service 
to  my  country,  in  obedience  to  its  call, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  488. 


102  CHARACTER   AND   INFLUENCE 

but  with  less  hope  of  answering  its  ex 
pectations."  *  His  journey  was  a  tri 
umphal  procession;^  on  the  road,  and  in 
th,e  towns,  the  whole  population  came  out 
to  meet  him,  with  shouts  of  applause  and 
prayers  in  his  behalf.  He  entered  New 
York,  conducted  by  a  committee  of  Con 
gress,  in  an  elegantly  decorated  barge, 
rowed  by  thirteen  pilots,  representing  the 
thirteen  States,  in  the  midst  of  an  im 
mense  crowd  in  the  harbour  and  upon  the 
shore.  His  own  state  of  feeling  remained 
the  same.  "  The  display  of  boats,"  says 
he  in  his  Diary,  "  which  attended  and 
joined  on  this  occasion,  some  with  vocal 
and  others  with  instrumental  music  on 
board  ;  the  decorations  of  the  ^hips,  the 
roar  of  cannon,  and  the  loud  acclamations 
of  the  people,  which  rent  the  sky  as  I 
passed  along  the  wharves,  filled  my  mind 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  461. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  103 

with  sensations  as  painful  (contemplating 
the  reverse  of  this  scene,  which  may  be 
the  case,  after  all  my  labors  to  do  good,)  as 
they  were  pleasing." 

About  a  century  and  a  half  before,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Thames,  a  similar  crowd 
and  like  outward  signs  of  feeling  had  at 
tended  Cromwell  to  Westminster,  when 
he  was  proclaimed  Protector  of  the  Com 
monwealth  of  England.  "  What  throngs  ! 
what  acclamations  !  "  said  his  flatterers. 
Cromwell  replied,  "  There  would  be  still 
more,  if  they  were  going  to  hang  me." 

A  singular  resemblance  and  also  a  noble 
difference  between  the  sentiments  and  the 
language  of  a  corrupted  great  man  and  a 
virtuous  great  man. 

Washington  was,  with  reason,  anxious 
about  the  task  which  he  undertook.  The 
sagacity  of  a  sage,  united  to  the  devoted- 

*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  V.  p.  159. 


104      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

ness  of  a  hero,  constitutes  the  highest 
glory  of  humanity.  The  nation,  which  he 
had  conducted  to  independence,  and  which 
required  a  government  at  his  hands,  being 
hardly  yet  formed,  was  entering  upon  one 
of  those  social  changes  which  render  the 
future  so  uncertain,  and  power  so  perilous. 
It  is  a  remark  often  made,  and  general 
ly  assented  to,  that  in  the  English  colo 
nies,,  before  their  separation  from  the 
mother  country,  the  state  of  society  and 
feeling  was  essentially  republican,  and 
that  every  thing  was  prepared  for  this 
form  of  government.  But  a  republican 
form  of  government  can  govern  and,  in 
point  of  fact,  has  governed  societies  essen 
tially  different ;  and  the  same  society  may 
undergo  great  changes  without  ceasing  to 
be  a  republic.  All  the  English  colonies 
showed  themselves,  nearly  in  the  same  de 
gree,  in  favor  of  the  republican  constitu 
tion.  At  the  North  and  at  the  South,  in 


OF  WASHINGTON.  105 

Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  as  well  as  in 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  the  public 
will  was  the  same,  so  far  as  the  form  of 
government  was  concerned. 

Still,  (and  the  remark  has  been  often 
made,)  considered  in  their  social  organiza 
tion,  in  the  condition  and  relative  position 
of  their  inhabitants,  these  colonies  were 
very  different. 

In  the  South,  especially  in  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  the  'soil  belonged,  in  gen 
eral,  to  large  proprietors,  who  were  sur 
rounded  by  slaves  or  by  cultivators  on  a 
small  scale.  Entails  and  the  right  of 
primogeniture  secured  the  perpetuity  of 
families.  There  was  an  established  and 
endowed  church.  The  civil  legislation  of 
England,  bearing  strongly  the  impress  of 
its  feudal  origin,  had  been  maintained  al 
most  without  exception.  The  social  state 
was  aristocratic. 

In    the    North,    especially    in    Massa- 


106      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

chusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire, 
Rhode  Island,  &c.,  the  fugitive  Puritans 
had  brought  with  them,  and  planted  there, 
strict  democracy  with  religious  enthusiasm. 
Here,  there  was  no  slavery  ;  there  were  no 
large  proprietors  in  the  midst  of  an  inferior 
population,  no  entailment  of  landed  prop 
erty  ;  there  was  no  church,  with  different 
degrees  of  rank,  and  founded  in  the  name 
of  the  State;  no  social  superiority,  lawfully 
established  and  maintained.  Man  was 
here  left  to  his  own  efforts  and  to  di 
vine  favor.  The  spirit  of  independence 
and  equality  had  passed  from  the  church 
to  the  state. 

Still,  however,  even  in  the  northern  col 
onies,  and  under  the  sway  of  Puritan  prin- 
cip'es,  other  causes,  not  sufficiently  no 
ticed,  qualified  this  character  of  the  so 
cial  state,  and  modified  its  developement. 
There  is  a  great,  a  very  great  difference 
between  a  purely  religious  and  a  purely 


OF    WASHINGTON.  107 

political  democratic  spirit.  However  ar 
dent,  however  impracticable  the  former 
may  be,  it  receives  in  its  origin,  and  main 
tains  in  its  action,  a  powerful  element  of 
subordination  and  order,  that  is,  reverence. 
In  spite  of  their  spiritual  pride,  the  Puri 
tans,  every  day,  bent  before  a  master  and 
submitted  to  him  their  thoughts,  their 
heart,  their  life ;  and  on  the  shores  of 
America,  when  they  had  no  longer  to  de 
fend  their  liberties  against  human  power, 
when  they  were  governing  themselves  in 
the  presence  of  God,  the  sincerity  of  their 
faith  and  the  strictness  of  their  manners 
counteracted  the  inclination  of  the  spirit  of 
democracy  towards  individual  lawlessness 
and  general  disorder.  Those  magistrates, 
so  watched,  so  constantly  changed,  had 
still  a  strong  ground  of  support,  which 
rendered  them  firm,  often  even  severe,  in 
the  exercise  of  authority.  In  the  bosom 
of  those  families,  so  jealous  of  their  rights, 


108      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

so  opposed  to  all  political  display,  to  all 
conventional  greatness,  the  paternal  au 
thority  was  strong  and  much  respected. 
The  law  sanctioned  rather  than  limited  it. 
Entails  and  inequality  in  inheritance  were 
forbidden;  but  the  father  had  the  entire 
disposition  of  his  property,  and  divided  it 
among  his  children  according  to  his  own 
will.  In  general,  civil  legislation  was  not 
controlled  by  political  maxims,  and  pre 
served  the  impress  of  ancient  manners. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  democratic 
spirit,  though  predominant,  was  every 
where  met  by  checks  and  balances. 

Besides,  a  circumstance  of  material  im 
portance,  temporary  but  of  decisive  effect, 
served  to  conceal  its  presence  and  retarded 
its  sway.  In  the  towns,  there  was  no 
populace ;  in  the  country,  the  population 
was  settled  around  the  principal  planters, 
commonly  those  who  had  received  grants 
of  the  soil,  and  were  invested  with  the  lo- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  109 

cal  magistracies.  The  social  principles 
were  democratic,  but  the  position  of  in 
dividuals  was  very  little  so.  Instruments 
were  wanting  to  give  effect  to  the  princi 
ples.  Influence  still  dwelt  with  rank. 
And  on  the  other  hand,  the  number  did 
not  press  heavily  enough  to  make  the 
greater  weight  in  the  balance. 

But  the  Revolution,  hastening  the  pro 
gress  of  events,  gave  to  American  society 
a  general  and  rapid  movement  in  the  di 
rection  of  democracy.  In  those  States 
where  the  aristocratic  principle  was  still 
strong,  as  in  Virginia,  it  was  immediately 
assailed  and  subdued.  Entails  disappear 
ed.  The  church  lost  not  only  its  privi 
leges,  but  its  official  rank  in  the  State. 
The  elective  principle  prevailed  through 
out  the  whole  government.  The  right 
of  suffrage  was  greatly  extended.  Civil 
legislation,  without  undergoing  a  radical 


110  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

change,  inclined  more  and  more   towards 
equality. 

The  progress  of  democracy  was  still 
more  marked  in  events  than  in  laws. 
In  the  towns,  the  population  increased 
rapidly,  and,  with  it,  the  populace  also. 
In  the  country  towards  the  west,  be 
yond  the  Alleghany  mountains,  by  a  con 
stant  and  accelerated  movement  of  emi 
gration,  new  States  were  growing  up  or 
preparing  to  be  formed,  inhabited  by  a 
scattered  population,  always  in  contest 
with  the  rude  powers  of  nature  and  the 
ferocious  passions  of  savages  ;  half  savage 
themselves ;  strangers  to  the  forms  and 
proprieties  of  thickly  settled  communities ; 
given  up  to  the  selfishness  of  their  own 
separated  and  solitary  existence,  and  of 
their  passions  ;  bold,  proud,  rude,  and  pas 
sionate.  Thus,  in  all  parts  of  the  coun 
try,  along  the  sea-board  as  well  as  in 
the  interior  of  the  continent,  in  the  great 


OF  WASHINGTON.  Ill 

centres  of  population  and  in  the  forests 
hardly  yet  explored,  in  the  midst  of  com 
mercial  activity  and  of  rural  life,  numbers, 
the  simple  individual,  personal  indepen 
dence,  primitive  equality,  all  these  demo 
cratic  elements,  were  increasing,  extend 
ing  their  influence,  and  taking,  in  the  State 
and  its  institutions,  the  place  which  had 
been  prepared  for  them,  but  which  they 
had  not  previously  held. 

And,  in  the  course  of  ideas,  the  same 
movement,  even  more  rapid,  hurried  along 
the  minds  of  men  and  the  progress  of  opin 
ion,  far  in  advance  of  events.  In  the  midst 
of  the  most  civilized  and  wisest  States,  the 
most  radical  theories  obtained  not  only 
favor  but  strength.  "  The  property  of  the 
United  States  has  been  protected  from 
the  confiscation  of  Britain  by  the  joint  ex 
ertions  of  all,  and  therefore  ought  to  be 
the  common  property  of  all ;  and  he  that 
attempts  opposition  to  this  creed  is  an  en- 


112  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

emy  to  equity  and  justice,  and  ought  to  be 

swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth 

They  are  determined  to  annihilate  all 
debts,  public  and  private,  and  have  agra 
rian  laws,  which  are  easily  effected  by  the 
means  of  unfunded  paper  money,  which 
shall  be  a  tender  in  all  cases  whatever."  * 
These  disorganizing  fancies  were  received 
in  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New 
Hampshire,  by  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  people ;  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand 
men  took  up  arms  in  order  to  reduce  them 
to  practice.  And  the  evil  appeared  so  se 
rious,  that  Madison,  the  most  intimate 
friend  of  Jefferson,  a  man  whom  the  dem 
ocratic  party  subsequently  ranked  among 
its  leaders,  regarded  American  society  as 
almost  lost,  and  hardly  ventured  to  enter 
tain  any  hope.f 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  207. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  208. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  113 

Two  powers  act  in  concurrence  to  de- 
velope  and  maintain  the  life  of  a  people ; 
its  civil  constitution  and  its  political  or 
ganization,  the  general  influences  of  soci 
ety  and  the  authorities  of  the  State  ;  the 
latter  were  wanting  to  the  infant  Ameri 
can  commonwealth,  still  more  than  the 
former.  In  this  society,  so  disturbed, 
so  slightly  connected,  the  old  government 
had  disappeared,  and  the  new  had  not  yet 
been  formed.  I  have  spoken  of  the  insig 
nificance  of  Congress,  the  only  bond  of 
union  between  the  States,  the  only  central 
power ;  a  power  without  rights  and  with 
out  strength  ;  signing  treaties,  nominating 
ambassadors,  proclaiming  that  the  public 
good  required  certain  laws,  certain  taxes, 
and  a  certain  army  ;  but  not  having  it 
self  the  power  of  making  laws,  or  judges 
or  officers  to  administer  them  ;  without 
taxes,  with  which  to  pay  its  ambassadors, 
officers,  and  judges,  or  troops  to  enforce 


114  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

the  payment  of  taxes  and  cause  its  laws, 
judges,  and  officers  to  be  respected.  The 
political  state  was  still  more  weak  and 
more  wavering  than  the  social  state. 

The  Constitution  wras  formed  to  rem 
edy  this  evil,  to  give  to  the  Union  a  gov 
ernment.  It  accomplished  two  great 
results.  The  central  government  be 
came  a  real  one,  and  was  placed  in  its 
proper  position.  The  Constitution  freed 
it  from  the  control  of  the  States,  gave 
it  a  direct  action  upon  the  citizens  with 
out  the  intervention  of  the  local  authori 
ties,  and  supplied  it  with  the  instru 
ments  necessary  to  give  effect  to  its 
will ;  with  taxes,  judges,  officers,  and 
soldiers.  In  its  own  interior  organization, 
the  central  government  was  well  con 
ceived  and  well  balanced  ;  the  duties  and 
relations  of  the  several  powers  were  reg 
ulated  with  great  good  sense,  and  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  conditions  upon  which 


OF   WASHINGTON.  115 

order  and  political  vitality  were  to  be  had; 
at  least  for  a  republican  form  and  the  so 
ciety  for  which  it  was  intended. 

In  comparing  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  with  the  anarchy  from 
which  it  sprang,  we  cannot  too  much  ad 
mire  the  wisdom  of  its  framers  and  of  the 
generation  which  selected  and  sustained 
them.  But  the  Constitution,  though 
adopted  and  promulgated,  was  as  yet  a 
mere  name.  It  supplied  remedies  against 
the  evil,  but  the  evil  was  still  there.  The 
great  powers,  which  it  had  brought  into 
existence,  were  confronted  with  the  events 
which  had  preceded  it  and  rendered  it  so 
necessary,  and  with  the  parties  which 
were  formed  by  these  events,  and  were 
striving  to  mould  society  and  the  Consti 
tution  itself  according  to  their  own  views. 
At  the  first  glance,  the  names  of  these 
parties  excite  surprise.  Federal  and  demo 
cratic  ;  between  these  two  qualities,  these 


116  CHARACTER   AND   INFLUENCE 

two  tendencies,  there  is  no  real  and  es 
sential  difference.  In  Holland  in  the  sev 
enteenth  century,  in  Switzerland  even  in 
our  time,  it  was  the  democratic  party  which 
aimed  at  strengthening  the  federal  union, 
the  central  government ;  it  was  the  aristo 
cratic  party  which  placed  itself  at  the  head 
of  the  local  governments,  and  defended 
their  sovereignty.  The  Dutch  people 
supported  William  of  Nassau  and  the 
Stadtholdership  against  John  de  Witt  and 
the  leading  citizens  of  the  towns.  The 
patricians  of  Schweitz  and  Uri  are  the 
most  obstinate  enemies  of  the  federal  diet 
and  of  its  power. 

In  the  course  of  their  struggle,  the 
American  parties  often  received  differ 
ent  designations.  The  democratic  party 
arrogated  to  itself  the  title  of  republi 
can,  and  bestowed  on  the  other  that  of 
monarchists  and  monocrals.  The  federal 
ists  called  their  opponents  anti-unionists. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  117 

They  mutually  accused  each  other  of  tend 
ing,  the  one  to  monarchy,  and  the  other  to 
separation  ;  of  wishing  to  destroy,  the  one 
the  republic,  and  the  other  the  union. 

This  was  either  a  bigoted  prejudice  or 
a  party  trick.  Both  parties  were  sincere 
ly  friendly  to  a  republican  form  of  govern 
ment  and  the  union  of  the  States.  The 
names,  which  they  gave  one  another  for 
the  sake  of  mutual  disparagement,  were 
still  more  false  than  their  original  denomi 
nations  w7ere  imperfect  and  improperly  op 
posed  to  each  other. 

Practically,  and  so  far  as  the  imme 
diate  affairs  of  the  country  were  con 
cerned,  they  differed  less,  than  they  either 
said  or  thought,  in  their  mutual  hatred. 
But,  in  reality,  there  was  a  permanent  and 
essential  difference  between  them  in  their 
principles  and  their  tendencies.  The  fed 
eral  party  was,  at  the  same  time,  aristo 
cratic,  favorable  to  the  preponderance  of  the 


118  CHARACTER  AND    INFLUENCE 

higher  classes,  as  well  as  to  the  power  of 
the  central  government.  The  democratic 
party  was,  also,  the  local  party  ;  desiring  at 
once  the  rule  of  the  majority,  and  the  almost 
entire  independence  of  the  State  govern 
ments.  Thus  there  were  points  of  differ 
ence  between  them  respecting  both  social 
order  and  political  order ;  the  constitution 
of  society  itself,  as  well  as  of  its  govern 
ment.  Thus  those  paramount  and  eter 
nal  questions,  which  have  agitated  and 
will  continue  to  agitate  the  world,  and 
which  are  linked  to  the  far  higher  problem 
of  man's  nature  and  destiny,  were  all  in 
volved  in  the  American  parties,  and  were 
all  concealed  under  their  names. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  society,  so 
agitated  and  disturbed,  that  Washington, 
without  ambition,  without  any  false  show, 
from  a  sense  of  duty  rather  than  inclina 
tion,  and  rather  trusting  in  truth  than  con 
fident  of  success,  undertook  actually  to 


OF  WASHINGTON.  119 

found  the  government  which  a  new-born 
constitution  had  just  decreed.  He  rose  to 
his  high  office,  invested  with  an  immense 
influence,  which  was  acknowledged  and 
received  even  by  his  enemies.  But  he 
himself  has  made  the  profound  remark, 
that  "  influence  is  not  government."  * 

In  the  struggle  of  the  parties,  all  that  had 
reference  to  the  mere^  organization  of  civil 
society  occupied  his  attention  very  little. 
This  involves  abstruse  and  recondite  ques 
tions,  which  are  clearly  revealed  only 

to  the  meditations  of  the  philosopher,  af- 

<\ 

ter  he  has  surveyed  %uman  societies  in  all 
periods  and  under  all  their  forms.  Wash 
ington  was  little  accustomed  to  contem 
plation  or  acquainted  with  science.  In 
1787,  before  going  to  Philadelphia,  he  had 
undertaken,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  clear 
views,  to  study  the  constitution  of  the 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  204. 


120  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

principal  confederations,  ancient  and  mod 
ern  ;  and  the  abstract  of  this  labor,  found 
among  his  papers,  shows,  that  he  had  made 
a  collection  of  facts  in  support  of  the  plain 
dictates  of  his  good  sense,  rather  than  pen 
etrated  into  the  essential  nature  of  these 
complicated  associations. 

Moreover,  Washington's  natural  inclina 
tion  was  rather  to  a  democratic  social  state, 
than  to  any  other.  f)f  a  mind  just  rather 
than  expansive,  of  a  temper  wise  and  calm ; 
full  of  dignity,  but  free  from  all  selfish  and 
arrogant  pretensions ;  coveting  rather  re 
spect  than  power ;  /the  impartiality  of 
democratic  principles,  and  the  simplicity 
of  democratic  manners,  far  from  offending 
or  annoying  him,  suited  his  tastes  and  sat 
isfied  his  judgment.  He  did  not  trouble 
himself  with  inquiring,  like  the  partisans  of 
the  aristocratic  system,  whether  more  elab 
orate  combinations,  a  division  into  ranks, 
privileges,  and  artificial  barriers,  were  ne- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  121 

cessary  to  the  preservation  of  society. 
He  lived  tranquilly  in  the  midst  of  an 
equal  and  sovereign  people,  finding  its  au 
thority  to  be  lawful  and  submitting  to  it 
without  effort. 

But  when  the  question  was  one  of  po 
litical  and  not  social  order,  when  the  dis 
cussion  turned  upon  the  organization  of 
the  government,  he  was  strongly  federal, 
opposed  to  local  and  popular  pretensions, 
and  the  declared  advocate  of  the  unity 
and  force  of  the  central  power. 

He  placed  himself  under  this  standard, 
and  did  so  in  order  to  insure  its  triumph. 
But  still  his  elevation  was  not  the  victory 
of  a  party,  and  awakened  in  no  one  either 
exultation  or  regret.  In  the  eyes,  not  only 
of  the  public,  but  of  his  enemies,  he  was 
not  included  in  any  party  and  was  above 
them  all  ;  "  the  only  man  in  the  United 
States,"  said  Jefferson,  "  who  possessed 
the  confidence  of  all ; there  was 


122  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

no  other  one,  who  was  considered  as  any 
thing  more  than  a  party  leader." 

It  was  his  constant  effort  to  maintain 
this  honorable  privilege.  "  It  is  really  my 
wish  to  have  my  mind  and  my  actions, 
which  are  the  result  of  reflection,  as  free 

and  independent  as  the  air.  f If  it 

should  be  my  inevitable  fate  to  administer 
the  government,  I  will  go  to  the  chair 
under  no  preengagement  of  any  kind  or 

nature  whatsoever.} Should  any 

thing  tending  to  give  me  anxiety  present 
itself  in  this  or  any  other  publication, 
I  shall  never  undertake  the  painful  task 
of  recrimination,  nor  do  I  know  that  I 
should  even  enter  upon  my  justification.  § 
......  All  else  is  but  food  for  decla 
mation.  II  ,  ,  Men's  minds  are  as 


*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  Vol.  IV.  p.  481, 

f  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  84. 

t  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  476.         §  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  108. 

|j  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.  p.  148. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  123 

variant  as  their  faces;  and,  where  the  mo 
tives  of  their  actions  are  pure,  the  op 
eration  of  the  former  is  no  more  to  be  im 
puted  to  them  as  a  crime,  than  the  appear 
ance  of  the  latter.* Differences 

in  political  opinions  are  as  unavoidable,  as, 
to  a  certain  point,  they  may  perhaps  be 
necessary."  f  A  stranger  also  to  all  per 
sonal  disputes,  to  the  passions  and  prej 
udices  of  his  friends  as  well  as  his  ene 
mies,  the  purpose  of  his  whole  policy  was 
to  maintain  this  position ;  and  to  this  pol 
icy  he  gave  its  true  name  ;  he  called  it 
"  the  just  medium."  t 

It  is  much  to  have  the  wish  to  preserve 
a  just  medium  ;  but  the  wish,  though  ac 
companied  with  firmness  and  ability,  is 
not  always  enough  to  secure  it.  Wash 
ington  succeeded  in  this  as  much  by  the 
natural  turn  of  his  mind  and  character, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  IX.  p.  475. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  283.  t  Ibid.,  Vol. 


Ibid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  236. 


124  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

as  by  making  it  his  peculiar  aim  ;  he  was, 
indeed,  really  of  no  party,  and  his  coun 
try,  in  esteeming  him  so,  did  no  more  than 
pay  homage  to  truth. 

A  man  of  experience  and  a  man  of  ac 
tion,  he  had  an  admirable  wisdom,  and 
made  no  pretension  to  systematic  theo 
ries.  He  took  no  side  beforehand ;  he 
made  no  show  of  the  principles  that  were 
to  govern  him.  Thus,  there  was  nothing 
like  a  logical  harshness  in  his  conduct,  no 
committal  of  self-love,  no  struggle  of  rival 
talent.  When  he  obtained  the  victory, 
his  success  was  not  to  his  adversaries  ei 
ther  a  stake  lost  or  a  sweeping  sentence 
of  condemnation.  It  was  not  on  the  ground 
of  the  superiority  of  his  own  mind,  that  he 
triumphed ;  but  on  the  ground  of  the  nature 
of  things,  and  of  the  inevitable  necessity 
that  accompanied  them.  Still  his  success 
was  not  an  event  without  a  moral  charac 
ter,  the  simple  result  of  skill,  strength,  or 


OF  WASHINGTON,  125 

fortune.  Uninfluenced  by  any  theory,  he 
had  faith  in  truth,  and  adopted  it  as  the 
guide  of  his  conduct.  He  did  not  pursue 
the  victory  of  one  opinion  against  the  par-  * 
tisans  of  another  ;  neither  did  he  act  from 
interest  in  the  event  alone,  or  merely  for 
success.  He  did  nothing  which  he  did  not 
think  to  be  reasonable  and  just ;  so  that 
his  conduct,  which  had  no  systematic  char 
acter,  that  might  be  humbling  to  his  ad 
versaries,  had  still  a  moral  character, 
which  commanded  respect. 

Men  had,  moreover,  the  most  thorough  t 
conviction  of  his  disinterestedness  ;  that 
great  light,  to  which  men  so  willingly 
trust  their  fate  ;  that  vast  power,  which 
draws  after  it  their  hearts,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  it  gives  them  confidence  that 
their  interests  will  not  be  surrendered, 
either  as  a  sacrifice  or  as  instruments  to 
selfishness  and  ambition. 

His  first  act,  the  formation  of  his  cabi- 


126      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

net,  was  the  most  striking  proof  of  his 
impartiality.  Four  persons  were  selected 
by  him  ;  Hamilton  and  Knox,  of  the  fed- 

I  eral  party  ;  Jefferson  and  Randolph,  of 
the  democratic.  Knox  was  a  soldier,  of 
integrity,  of  moderate  abilities,  and  easily 
influenced ;  Randolph,  a  restless  spirit,  of 
doubtful  probity  and  little  good  faith ; 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton  were  both  sin 
cere,  honest,  enthusiastic,  and  able,  —  the 
real  heads  of  the  two  parties. 

Hamilton  deserves  to  be  ranked  among 

9  those  men,  who  have  best  understood  the 
vital  principles  and  essential  conditions  of 
government ;  not  merely  of  a  nominal  gov 
ernment,  but  of  a  government  worthy  of 
its  mission  and  of  its  name.  In  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  there  is  not 
an  element  of  order,  strength,  and  dura 
bility,  to  the  introduction  and  adoption  of 
which  he  did  not  powerfully  contribute. 
Perhaps  he  believed  the  monarchical  form 


OF  WASHINGTON.  127 

preferable  to  the  republican.  Perhaps  he 
sometimes  had  doubts  of  the  success  of 
the  experiment  attempted  in  his  own 
country.  Perhaps,  also,  carried  away  by 
his  vivid  imagination  and  the  logical  ve 
hemence  of  his  mind,  he  was  sometimes 
exclusive  in  his  views  and  went  too  far 
in  his  inferences.  But,  of  a  character  as 
lofty  as  his  mind,  he  faithfully  served  the 
republic,  and  labored  to  found  and  not  to 
weaken  it.  His  superiority  consisted  in 
knowing,  that,  naturally  and  by  a  law 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  things,  power 
is  above,  at  the  head  of  society ;  that 
government  should  be  constituted  ac 
cording  to  this  law  ;  and  that  every  con 
trary  system  or  effort  brings,  sooner  or 
later,  trouble  and  weakness  into  the  soci 
ety  itself.  His  error  consisted  in  adhering 
too  closely,  and  with  a  somewhat  arrogant 
obstinacy,  to  the  precedents  of  the  Eng 
lish  constitution,  in  attributing  sometimes 


123  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

in  these  precedents  the  same  authority 
to  good  and  to  evil,  to  principles  and  to 
the  abuse  of  them,  and  in  not  attaching 
due  importance  to,  and  reposing  sufficient 
confidence  in,  the  variety  of  political  forms 
and  the  flexibility  of  human  society. 
There  are  occasions,  in  which  political 
genius  consists,  in  not  fearing  what  is 
new,  while  what  is  eternal  is  respected. 
The  democratic  party,  not  the  turbulent 
and  coarse  democracy  of  antiquity  or  of  the 
middle  ages,  but  the  great  modern  democ 
racy,  never  had  a  more  faithful  or  more 
distinguished  representative  than  Jefferson. 
A  warm  friend  of  humanity,  liberty,  and 
science  ;  trusting  in  their  goodness  as  well 
as  their  rights  ;  deeply  touched  by  the  in 
justice  with  which  the  mass  of  mankind 
have  been  treated,  and  the  sufferings  they 
endure,  and  incessantly  engaged,  with  an 
admirable  disinterestedness,  in  remedying 
them  or  preventing  their  recurrence  ;  ac- 


.OF  WASHINGTON.  129 

cepting  power  as  a  dangerous  necessity, 
almost  as  one  evil  opposed  to  another,  and 
exerting  himself  not  merely  to  restrain,  but 
to  lower  it ;  distrusting  all  display,  all 
personal  splendor,  as  a  tendency  to  usur 
pation  ;  of  a  temper  open,  kind,  indul 
gent,  though  ready  to  take  up  prejudices 
against,  and  feel  irritated  with,  the  ene 
mies  of  his  party ;  of  a  mind  bold,  active, 
ingenious,  inquiring,  with  more  penetra 
tion  than  forecast,  but  with  too  much 
good  sense  to  push  things  to  the  extreme, 
arid  capable  of  employing,  against  a  press 
ing  danger  or  evil,  a  prudence  arid  firm 
ness,  which  would  perhaps  have  pre 
vented  it,  had  they  been  adopted  earlier 
or  more  generally. 

It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  unite  these    j 
two  men,  and  make  them  act  in  concert   4 
in  the  same  cabinet.  •  The  critical  state  of 
affairs  at  the  first  adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  impartial  preponderance  of 


130  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

Washington  alone  could  accomplish  it. 
He  applied  himself  to  it  with  consummate 
perseverance  and  wisdom.  At  heart,  he 
felt  a  decided  preference  for  Hamilton 
and  his  views.  "By  some,"  said  he,  "he 
is  considered  an  ambitious  man,  and 
therefore  a  dangerous  one.  That  he  is 
ambitious,  I  shall  readily  grant ;  but  it  is  of 
that  laudable  kind,  which  prompts  a  man 
to  excel  in  whatever  he  takes  in  hand. 
He  is  enterprising,  quick  in  his  perceptions, 
and  his  judgment  intuitively  great. "* 
But  it  was  only  in  17S8,  in  the  free 
dom  of  his  retirement,  that  Washington 
spoke  so  explicitly.  While  in  office,  and 
between  his  two  secretaries,  he  main 
tained  towards  them  a  strict  reserve,  and 
testified  the  same  confidence  in  them  both. 
He  believed  both  of  them  to  be  sincere 
and  able ;  both  of  them  necessary  to  the 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  312. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  131 

country  and  to  himself.  Jefferson  was  to 
him,  not  only  a  connecting  tie,  a  means 
of  influence,  with  the  popular  party,  which 
was  not  slow  in  becoming  the  opposition ; 
but  he  made  use  of  him  in  the  internal 
administration  of  his  government,  as  a 
counterpoise  to  the  tendencies,  and  espe 
cially  to  the  language,  sometimes  extrav 
agant  and  inconsiderate,  of  Hamilton  and 
his  friends.  He  had  interviews  and  con 
sultations  with  each  of  them  separately, 
upon  the  subjects  which  they  were  to  dis 
cuss  together,  in  order  to  remove  or  to 

O  7 

lessen  beforehand  their  differences  of  opin 
ion.  He  knew  how  to  turn  the  merit 
and  the  popularity  of  each  with  his  own 
party,  to  the  general  good  of  the  govern 
ment,  even  to  their  own  mutual  advan 
tage.  He  skilfully  availed  himself  of  ev 
ery  opportunity  to  employ  them  in  a  com 
mon  responsibility.  And  when  a  disa 
greement  too  wide,  and  passions  too  im- 


132      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

petuous,  seemed  to  threaten  an  immediate 
rupture,  he  interposed,  used  exhortation 
and  intreaty,  and,  by  his  personal  influ 
ence,  by  a  frank  and  touching  appeal  to 
the  patriotism  and  right-mindedness  of 
the  two  rivals,  he  at  least  postponed  the 
breaking  forth  of  the  evil  which  he  could 
not  eradicate. 

He  dealt  with  things  with  the  same 
prudence  and  tact  as  with  men  ;  careful 
of  his  personal  position,  starting  no  pre 
mature  or  superfluous  question;  free  from 
the  restless  desire  to  regulate  every  thing 
and  control  everything;  leaving  the  grand 
bodies  of  the  State,  the  local  governments, 
and  the  officers  of  his  administration,  to 
act  in  their  appropriate  spheres,  and  never, 
except  in  a  case  of  clear  and  practical 
necessity,  pledging  his  own  opinion  or 
responsibility.  And  this  policy,  so  impar 
tial,  so  cautious,  so  careful  to  embarrass 
neither  affairs  nor  itself,  was  by  no  means 


OF  WASHINGTON.  133 

the  policy  of  an  inactive,  uncertain,  ill- 
compounded  administration,  seeking  and 
receiving  its  opinions  and  direction  from 
all  quarters.  On  the  contrary,  there  never 
was  a  government  more  determined,  more 
active,  more  decided  in  its  views,  and 
more  effective  in  its  decisions. 

It  had  been  formed  against  anarchy  and 
to  strengthen  the  federal  union,  the  cen 
tral  power.  It  was  entirely  faithful  to  its 
office.  At  its  very  commencement,  in 
the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress, 
numerous  great  questions  arose  ;  it  was 
necessary  to  put  the  Constitution  in  vig 
orous  action.  The  relations  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  Legislature  with  the  Pres 
ident  ;  the  mode  of  communication  be 
tween  the  President  and  the  Senate  in 
regard  to  treaties  and  the  nomination  to 
high  offices;  the  organization  of  the  judi 
ciary  ;  the  creation  of  ministerial  depart 
ments  ;  all  these  points  were  discussed 


134  CHARACTER  AND   INFLUENCE 

and  regulated.  A  work  of  vast  labor,  in 
which  the  Constitution  was,  to  some  ex 
tent,  given  over  a  second  time  to  the 
strife  of  parties.  Without  ostentation, 
without  intrigue,  without  any  attempt  at 
encroachment,  but  provident  and  firm  in  the 
cause  of  the  power  which  was  intrusted 
to  him,  Washington,  by  his  personal  in 
fluence,  by  an  adherence  openly  given  to 
sound  principles,  had  a  powerful  influence 
in  causing  the  work  to  be  carried  on  in 
the  same  spirit  which  presided  over  its 
beginning,  and  to  result  in  the  dignified 
and  firm  organization  of  the  government. 
His  practice  corresponded  with  his  prin 
ciples.  Once  fairly  engaged  with  public 
business  and  parties,  this  man  who,  in  the 
formation  of  his  cabinet,  showed  himself 
so  tolerant,  enjoined  and  observed,  in  his 
administration,  a  strict  unity  of  views  and 
conduct.  "  I  shall  not,  whilst  I  have  the 
honor  to  administer  the  government,  bring 


OF  WASHINGTON.  135 

a  man  into  any  office  of  consequence 
knowingly,  whose  political  tenets  are  ad 
verse  to  the  measures  which  the  general 
government  are  pursuing  ;  for  this,  in  my 
opinion,  would  be  a  sort  of  political  sui 
cide."*  "In  a  government  as  free  as 
ours,"  he  wrote  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  at 
that  time  residing  in  London,  "  where 
the  people  are  at  liberty,  and  will  ex 
press  their  sentiments,  (oftentimes  impru 
dently,  and,  for  want  of  information, 
sometimes  unjustly,)  allowances  must  be 
made  for  occasional  effervescences  ;  but, 
after  the  declaration  which  I  have  made  of 
rny  political  creed;  you  can  run  no  hazard 
in  asserting,  that  the  executive  branch  of 
this  government  never  has  suffered,  nor 
will  suffer,  while  I  preside,  any  improper 
conduct  of  its  officers  to  escape  with  im- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  74. 


136  CHARACTER  AND   INFLUENCE 

punity,  nor  give  its  sanction  to  any  dis 
orderly  proceedings  of  its  citizens."  * 

In  matters,  also,  of  mere  form,  and  for 
eign  to  the  usual  habits  of  his  life,  he  was 
enlightened  and  directed  by  a  wise  tact, 
a  sure  instinct  as  to  what  is  suitable 
and  proper,  a  'regard  to  which  is  itself 
one  of  the  conditions  of  power.  The 
ceremonials  to  be  observed  towards  the 
President  became,'  after  his  election,  a 
grave  party  questio'n.  Many  federalists, 
passionately  attached  to  the  traditions 
and  splendor  of  monarchy,  exulted  when 
at  a  ball  they  had  succeeded  in  causing  a 
sofa  to  be  placed  on  an  elevation  two 
steps  above  the  floor  of  the  hall,  upon 
which  only  Washington  and  his  wife 
could  be  seated.  f  Many  of  the  dem 
ocrats  saw  in  these  displays,  and  in  the 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XL  p.  103. 
f  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  Vol.  IV.  p.  487. 


OF    WASHINGTON.  137 

public  levees  of  the  President,  the  pre 
meditated  return  of  tyranny,  and  were 
indignant,  that,  receiving  at  a  fixed  hour, 
in  his  house,  all  those  who  presented 
themselves,  he  made  them  only  a  stiff 
and  slight  bow.*  Washington  smiled  at 
both  the  delight  and  the  indignation,  and 
persisted  in  the  regulations,  surely  very 
modest,  which  he  had  adopted.  "  Were 
I  to  give  indulgence  to  my  inclinations, 
every  moment  that  I  could  withdraw  from 
the  fatigue  of  my  station  should  be  spent 
in  retirement.  That  it  is  not,  proceeds 
from  the  sense  I  entertain  of  the  propri 
ety  of  giving  to  every  one  as  free  access 
as  consists  with  that  respect  which  is  due 
to  the  chair  of  government ;  and  that  re 
spect,  I  conceive,  is  neither  to  be  acquired 
nor  preserved  but  by  observing  a  just  me- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  99. 


138      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

dium   between  much  state  and  too  great 
familiarity."  * 

More  serious  embarrassments  soon  put 
his  firmness  to  a  more  severe  test.  After 
the  establishment  of  the  Constitution,  the 
finances  formed  a  question  of  vast  impor 
tance  to  the  republic,  perhaps  the  princi 
pal  one.  They  were  in  a  state  of  ex 
treme  confusion ;  there  were  debts  of  the 
Union,  contracted  at  home  and  abroad  ; 
debts  of  individual  States,  contracted  in 
their  own  names,  but  in  behalf  of  the 
common  cause  ;  warrants  for  requisitions  ; 
contracts  for  supplies  ;  arrears  of  inter 
est  ;  also  other  claims,  different  in  their 
character  and  origin,  imperfectly  known 
and  not  liquidated.  And  at  the  end  of 
this  chaos,  there  were  no  settled  reve 
nues,  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenses 
which  it  imposed. 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  100. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  139 

Many  persons,  and,  it  must  be  acknowl 
edged,  the  democratic  party  in  genera], 
were  unwilling  that  light  should  be  thrown 
into  this  chaos  by  assuming  all  these 
obligations,  or  even  by  funding  them. 
They  would  have  imposed  upon  each 
State  its  debts,  however  unequal  the  bur 
den  might  have  been.  They  would  have 
made  distinctions  between  the  creditors  ; 
classifications  founded  upon  the  origin  of 
their  claims  and  the  real  amount  of  what 
they  had  paid  for  them.  In  short,  all  those 
measures  were  proposed  which,  under  an 
appearance  of  scrupulous  investigation  and 
strict  justice,  were  in  reality  nothing  but 
evasions  to  escape  from  or  reduce  the  en 
gagements  of  the  state. 

As  Secretary  of  the   Treasury,  Hamil-  i 
ton  proposed  the  opposite  system  ;  —  the  * 
funding  and   the    entire  payment,   at  the 
expense  of  the  Union,  of  all  the  debts  ac 
tually  contracted  for  the  common  benefit, 


140      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

whether  with  foreigners  or  Americans, 
and  whoever  were  the  contractors  or  the 
present  holders,  and  whatever  was  the  or 
igin  of  the  claims; — the  laying  of  taxes 
sufficient  to  secure  the  redemption  of  the 
public  debt ; — the  formation  of  a  national 
bank,  capable  of  aiding  the  government 
in  its  financial  operations,  and  of  sustain 
ing  its  credit. 

This  system  was  the  only  moral  and 
manly  one ;  the  only  one  in  conformity  with 
honesty  and  truth.  It  strengthened  the 
Union,  by  uniting  the  States  financially,  as 
thejr  were  united  politically.  It  established 
American  credit,  by  this  striking  example 
of  fidelity  to  public  engagements,  and  by 
the  guaranties  which  it  afforded  for  their 
fulfilment.  It  fortified  the  central  gov 
ernment  by  rallying  around  it  the  capital 
ists,  and  by  giving  it  powerful  means  of 
influence  over  them  and  through  them. 

At  the  first  movement,  the  opponents  of 


OF  WASHINGTON.  141 

Hamilton  did  not  dare  to  make  any  open 
objection  ;  but  they  exerted  themselves  to 
lessen  the  authority  of  the  principle,  by 
contesting  the  equal  fairness  of  the 
debts,  by  discussing  the  honesty  of  the 
creditors,  and  by  exclaiming  against  the 
taxes.  Partisans  of  local  independence, 
they  rejected,  instead  of  viewing  with 
satisfaction,  the  political  consequences  of 
a  financial  union,  and  demanded,  in  virtue 
of  their  general  principles,  that  the  States 
should  be  left,  as  to  the  past  as  well  as  for 
the  future,  to  the  various  chances  of  their 
situation  and  their  destiny. 

American  credit  seemed  to  them  to  be 
bought  at  too  dear  a  price.  They  would 
obtain  it,  as  necessity  might  require,  by 
means  less  burdensome  and  more  simple. 
They  found  fault  with  the  theories  of 
Hamilton  respecting  credit,  the  public  debt 
and  its  redemption,  and  banks,  as  difficult 
to  be  understood  and  fallacious. 


142  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

But  the  ultimate  effect  of  the  system 
especially  excited  their  wrath.  The  aris 
tocracy  of  wealth  is  a  perilous  ally  to 
power  ;  for  it  is  that  which  inspires  the 
least  esteem  and  the  most  envy.  When 
the  question  wras  on  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt,  the  federal  party  had  on  their 
side  the  principles  of  morality  and  honor. 
When  the  public  debt,  and  the  specula 
tions  founded  upon  it,  were  becoming  a 
means  of  sudden  wealth,  and  perhaps  of 
unlawful  influence,  the  severity  of  morals 
passed  over  to  the  democratic  party,  and 
integrity  lent  its  support  to  envy. 

Hamilton  sustained  the  contest  with  his 
usual  energy,  as  pure  in  his  motives  as  he 
was  firm  in  his  convictions  ;  the  head  of 
a  party  still  more  than  a  financier ;  and, 
in  the  administration  of  the  finances,  al 
ways  chiefly  occupied  with  his  political  ob 
ject,  the  foundation  of  the  state,  and  the 
strength  of  its  government. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  143 

The  perplexity  of  Washington  was 
great.  A  stranger  to  financial  studies,  he 
had  not,  upon  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the 
proposed  questions,  a  personal  conviction 
derived  from  knowledge.  Pie  felt  their  jus 
tice  and  their  political  utility.  He  had  con 
fidence  in  Hamilton,  in  his  judgment  and 
his  virtue.  Still,  as  the  debate  was  pro 
longed  and  objections  were  multiplied, 
some  of  them  disturbed  his  mind  and  oth 
ers  troubled  his  conscience  ;  and  he  asked 
himself,  with  some  embarrassment,  wheth 
er  all  the  reasons  were  indeed  on  the  side 
of  the  government. 

I  know  not  which  is  the  more  worthy 
of  admiration,  the  impartiality  which  in 
spired  these  doubts,  or  the  firmness  with 
which,  in  the  final  result  and  after  every 
thing  had  been  well  considered,  he  always 
sustained  Hamilton  and  his  measures. 
This  was  a  step  of  great  political  saga 
city.  Though  it  might  have  been  true, 


144  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

that  some  fallacies  were  mingled  with  the 
financial  measures  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  some  abuses  with  their  ex 
ecution,  a  far  higher  truth  predominated 
in  them  ;  by  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
public  faith,  and  by  closely  connecting  the 
administration  of  the  finances  with  the 
policy  of  the  State,  he  gave  to  the  new 
government,  from  the  first  moment,  the 
consistence  of  an  old  and  well-established 
authority. 

The  success  surpassed  the  proudest  ex 
pectations.  Confidence  appeared  in  men's 
minds,  activity  in  business,  and  order 
in  the  administration.  Agriculture  and 
commerce  flourished ;  credit  rose  rap 
idly.  Society  prospered  with  a  sense 
of  security,  feeling  itself  free  and  well- 
governed.  The  country  and  the  govern 
ment  grew  strong  together,  in  that  ad 
mirable  harmony  which  is  the  healthy 
condition  of  states. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  145 

Washington  beheld  with  his  own  eyes, 
upon  every  point  of  the  American  terri 
tory,  this  spectacle  so  glorious  and  so  de 
lightful  to  him.  In  three  public  journeys, 
he  slowly  travelled  over  the  whole  Union, 
everywhere  received  with  grateful  and 
affectionate  admiration,  the  only  recom 
pense  worthy  to  affect  the  heart  of  a  pub 
lic  man.  On  his  return,  he  thus  wrote ; 
"  I  am  much  pleased,  that  I  have  taken  this 

journey The  country  appears  to 

be  in  a  very  improving  state  ;  and  industry 
and  frugality  are  becoming  much  more 
fashionable  than  they  have  hitherto  been. 
Tranquillity  reigns  among  the  people,  with 
that  disposition  towards  the  general  gov 
ernment,  which  is  likely  to  preserve  it.  .  . 
.  .  .  The  farmer  finds  a  ready  market  for 
his  produce,  and  the  merchant  calculates 
with  more  certainty  on  his  payments.  .  . 
.  .  .  Every  day's  experience  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  seems  to 

10 


146      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

confirm  its  establishment,  and  to  render  it 
more  popular.  A  ready  acquiescence  in 
the  laws  made  under  it  shows,  in  a  strong 
light,  the  confidence,  which  the  people 
have  in  their  representatives  and  in  the 
upright  views  of  those  who  administer  the 
government."  * 

And  almost  at  the  same  time,  as  if 
Providence  had  provided  that  the  same 
testimony  should  go  down  to  posterity 
from  all  parties,  Jefferson  wrote;  "New 
elections  have  taken  place  for  the  most 
part,  and  very  few  changes  made.  This 
is  one  of  many  proofs,  that  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  new  government  have  given 

general  satisfaction Our  affairs 

are  proceeding  in  a  train  of  unparalleled 
prosperity.  This  arises  from  the  real  im 
provements  of  our  government ;  from  the 
unbounded  confidence  reposed  in  it  by  the 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  170. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  147 

people,  their  zeal  to  support  it,  and  their 
conviction,  that  a  solid  union  is  the  best 
rock  of  their  safety."  * 

Thus,  when  the  close  of  Washington's 
presidency  approached,  when  the  neces 
sity  of  again  selecting  a  chief  magistrate 
for  the  nation  was  near  at  hand,  a  gen 
eral  movement  was  directed  towards 
him,  to  entreat  him  to  accept,  a  second 
time,  the  burden  of  office.  A  movement 
with  great  diversity,  in  spite  of  its  apparent 
unanimity  ;  the  federal  party  wished  to 
retain  possession  of  the  power ;  the  dem 
ocratic  opposition  felt,  that  the  time  had 
not  come  for  them  to  aspire  to  it,  and  that 
the  country  could  not  dispense  with  the  pol 
icy,  nor  with  the  man,  they  nevertheless  had 
a  distinct  purpose  of  attacking.  The  pub 
lic  were  fearful  of  seeing  an  interruption  of 
that  order  and  prosperity,  so  highly  valued 

*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  Vol.  III.  pp.  93, 112. 


148  CHARACTER  AND    INFLUENCE 

and  so  precarious.  But,  whether  open  or 
concealed,  patriotic  or  selfish,  sincere  or 
hypocritical,  the  sentiments  and  opinions 
of  all  concurred  to  the  same  end. 

Washington  alone  hesitated.  His  calm 
and  penetrating  mind  found  in  his  own 
disinterestedness  a  freedom,  which  pre 
served  him  from  all  illusion,  both  as  to 
affairs  and  as  to  himself.  The  brilliant 
aspect,  the  really  prosperous  condition, 
of  public  affairs,  did  not  conceal  from  his 
eyes  the  imminent  perils  of  his  situa 
tion.  From  abroad,  the  intelligence  of 
the  French  revolution  was  already  start 
ling  America.  An  unavoidable  war,  com 
menced  with  ill  success,  against  the  In 
dians,  was  requiring  considerable  efforts. 
In  the  cabinet,  the  disagreement  between 
Hamilton  and  Jefferson  grew  very  vio 
lent  ;  the  most  urgent  intreaties  of  the 
President  failed  to  control  it ;  it  was  al 
most  officially  displayed  in  two  newspa- 


OF  WASHINGTON.  149 

pers,  the  National  Gazette  and  the  United 
States  Gazette,  fierce  enemies  under  the 
name  of  rivals  ;  the  known  editor  of  the 
former  was  a  clerk  in  Jefferson's  depart 
ment.*  Thus  encouraged,  the  opposition 
press  resorted  to  the  most  bitter  violence, 
and  Washington  suffered  great  uneasiness 
on  account  of  it.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  the  Attorney-General ;  "  If  govern 
ment,  and  the  officers  of  it,  are  to  be  the 
constant  theme  for  newspaper  abuse,  and 
this  too  without  condescending  to  inves 
tigate  the  motives  or  the  facts,  it  will  be 
impossible,  I  conceive,  for  any  man  living 
to  manage  the  helm  or  keep  the  machine 
together."  f 

In  some  parts  of  the  country,  especially 
in  Western  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  taxes 
imposed  for  making  provision  for  the  public 


*  His  name  was  Freneau. 

f  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  287 


150      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

debt  had  awakened  the  spirit  of  sedition ; 
numerous  meetings  of  the  people  had  de 
clared  that  they  would  not  paj  it ;  and 
Washington  W7as  compelled  to  declare 
in  his  turn,  by  an  official  proclamation, 
that  he  would  enforce  the  execution  of 
the  laws.  In  Congress  itself,  the  ad 
ministration  no  longer  received  so  con 
stant  and  powerful  a  support ;  Hamilton 
was,  day  after  day,  the  object  of  the 
most  animated  attacks  ;  the  opposition 
were  unsuccessful  in  the  motions  they 
made  against  him,  but  his  own  plans  wrere 
not  always  adopted.  Finally,  towards 
Washington  himself,  the  language  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  always  respect 
ful  and  affectionate,  was  no  longer  so  full 
or  so  tender ;  on  the  twenty-second  day 
of  February,  1793,  the  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  a  motion  to  adjourn  the  session 
for  half  an  hour  in  order  to  go  and  pay 
their  respects  to  him,  after  being  warmly 


OF  WASHINGTON,  151 

opposed,    passed    by    only  a   majority  of 
twenty-three  votes. 

None  of  these  facts,  none  of  these 
symptoms,  escaped  the  vigilant  sagacity  of 
Washington.  His  natural  taste  for  private 
life  and  the  repose  of  Mount  Vernon  re 
turned  with  double  force.  His  past  success, 
far  from  inspiring  confidence,  made  him 
more  fearful  for  the  future.  Modestly,  but 
passionately  attached  to  the  consideration 
in  which  he  was  held,  and  to  his  glory,  he 
was  unwilling  they  should  suffer  the  least 
abatement.  The  earnest  wish  expressed 
by  all  would  not  have  been  sufficient  to 
determine  him  ;  his  personal  convictions, 
the  public  good,  the  obvious  urgency  of 
affairs,  the  desire  or  rather  the  duty  of 
carrying  on  still  further  his  work  yet  incom 
plete,  were  alone  able  to  overbalance  in  his 
mind  the  dictates  of  prudence  and  incli 
nation.  He  weighed  and  discussed  within 
himself  these  different  motives,  with  a 


152      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

more  anxious  solicitude  than  seemed  to  be 
consistent  with  his  nature,  and  ended  by 
saying,  in  the  pious  weariness  of  his 
spirit,  "  As  the  all-wise  Disposer  of  events 
has  hitherto  watched  over  my  steps,  I  trust, 
that,  in  the  important  one  I  may  soon  be 
called  upon  to  take,  he  will  mark  the 
course  so  plainly,  as  that  I  cannot  mistake 
the  way."  * 

Unanimously  reflected,  he  resumed  his 
duties  with  the  same  disinterestedness, 
the  same  courage,  and,  in  spite  of  his  suc 
cess,  with  less  confidence,  perhaps,  than 
the  first  time.  He  had  a  true  presenti 
ment  of  the  trials  which  awaited  him. 

There  are  some  events  which  Provi 
dence  does  not  permit  those  who  live  at 
the  time  of  their  occurrence  to  under 
stand  ;  so  vast,  so  complicated,  that  they 
far  surpass  the  comprehension  of  man, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  286. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  153 

and,  even  when  they  are  exploding,  still 
remain  for  a  long  time  darkly  hidden  in 
the  depths,  from  which  proceed  those 
shocks,  that  ultimately  decide  the  des 
tinies  of  the  world. 

Such  was  the  French  revolution.  Who 
has  measured  it  ?  whose  judgment  and 
forecast  have  not  been  a  thousand  times 
deceived  by  it,  whether  friends  or  foes, 
admirers  or  detractors  ?  When  the  spirit 
of  society  and  the  spirit  of  man  are  shaken 
and  convulsed  to  such  a  degree,  results 
are  produced  which  no  imagination  had 
conceived,  no  forethought  could  grasp. 

That  which  experience  has  taught  us, 
Washington  caught  sight  of  from  the  first 
day.  At  the  time  when  the  French  Rev 
olution  had  hardly  begun,  he  was  already 
suspending  his  judgment,  and  taking  his 
position  aloof  from  all  parties  and  all  spec 
tators  ;  free  from  the  presumption  of  their 
predictions,  from  the  blindness  of  their 


154      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

hostility  or  their  hope.  "  The  whole 
business  is  so  extraordinary  in  its  com 
mencement,  so  wonderful  in  its  progress, 
and  may  be  so  stupendous  in  its  conse 
quences,  that  I  am  almost  lost  in  the 

contemplation Nobody  is  more 

anxious  for  the  happy  issue  of  that  busi 
ness,  than  I  am  ;  as  no  one  can  wish  more 
sincerely  for  the  prosperity  of  the  French 
nation,  than  I  do."  *  "  If  it  ends  as  our 
last  accounts,  to  the  first  of  August,  [1789,] 
predict,  that  nation  will  be  the  most  pow 
erful  and  happy  in  Europe  ;  but  I  fear, 
though  it  has  gone  triumphantly  through 
the  first  paroxysm,  it  is  not  the  last  it  has 
to  encounter  before  matters  are  finally 

settled The  mortification  of  the 

king,  the  intrigues  of  the  queen,  and  the 
discontent  of  the  princes  and  noblesse, 
will  foment  divisions,  if  possible,  in  the 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  X.  p.  89. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  155 

National  Assembly  ; the  licen 
tiousness  of  the  people  on  one  hand,  and 
sanguinary  punishments  on  the  other,  will 
alarm  the  best  disposed  friends  to  the 

measure To  forbear  running  from 

one  extreme  to  another  is  no  easy  matter; 
and,  should  this  be  the  case,  rocks  and 
shelves,  not  visible  at  present,  may  wreck 
the  vessel,  and  give  a  higher-toned  despo 
tism  than  the  one  which  existed  before." 
"  It  is  a  boundless  ocean,  whence  no  land 
is  to  be  seen."  f 

From  that  time,  he  maintained  towards 
the  nations  and  events  of  Europe  an  ex 
treme  reserve  ;  faithful  to  the  principles 
which  had  founded  the  independence  and 
the  liberties  of  America,  animated  by  a 
grateful  good-will  towards  France,  and 


*  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  40. 
t  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  344. 


156  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

seizing  with  earnestness  upon  every  oc 
casion  to  manifest  it,  but  silent  and  self- 
restrained,  as  if  under  the  presentiment  of 
some  grave  responsibility  of  which  he 
should  be  obliged  to  sustain  the  weight, 
and  not  wishing  to  pledge  beforehand  ei 
ther  his  personal  opinion  or  the  policy  of 
his  country. 

When  the  trying  moment  arrived,  when 
the  declaration  of  war  between  France  and 
England  caused  the  great  revolutionary 
struggle  to  break  out  in  Europe,  the  reso 
lution  of  Washington  was  decided  and 
prompt.  He  immediately  made  proclama 
tion  of  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States. 
"  My  politics  are  plain  and  simple  ;  .  .  . 
.  .  to  maintain  friendly  terms  with,  but 
be  independent  of,  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  ;  to  share  in  the  broils  of  none  ; 
to  fulfil  our  own  engagements ;  to  sup 
ply  the  wants  and  be  carriers  for  them 


OF  WASHINGTON.  157 

all ;  being  thoroughly  convinced,  that  it 
is  our  policy  and  interest  to  do  so." 
"  I  want  an  American  character,  that 
the  powers  of  Europe  may  be  convinced, 
we  act  for  ourselves,  and  not  for  oth 
ers."  f  "  Regarding  the  overthrow  of 
Europe  at  large  as  a  matter  not  entirely 
chimerical,  it  will  be  our  prudence  to  cul 
tivate  a  spirit  of  self-dependence,  and  to 
endeavour,  by  unanimity,  vigilance,  and 
exertion,  under  the  blessing  of  Providence, 
to  hold  the  scales  of  our  destiny  in  our 
own  hands.  Standing,  as  it  were,  in  the 
midst  of  falling  empires,  it  should  be  our 
aim  to  assume  a  station  and  attitude, 
which  will  preserve  us  from  being  over 
whelmed  in  their  ruins."  J  "  Nothing 
short  of  self-respect,  and  that  justice 


*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XL  pp.  382, 102. 
f  Ibid.,  Vol.  XI.  p.  83. 
J  Ibid.,  Vol.  XI.  p.  350. 


158  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

which  is  essential  to  a  national  character, 
ought  to  involve  us  in  war ;  for  sure  I  am, 
if  this  country  is  preserved  in  tranquillity 
twenty  years  longer,  it  may  bid  defiance, 
in  a  just  cause,  to  any  power  whatever ; 
such,  in  that  time,  will  be  its  population, 
wealth,  and  resources."* 

At  first,  the  approbation  was  general. 
The  desire  for  peace,  and  the  reluctance 
to  express  any  opinion  which  might  en 
danger  it,  were  predominant  in  men's 
minds.  Upon  the  principle  of  neutrality 
the  cabinet  had  been  unanimous.  But  in 
telligence  from  Europe  was  continually 
arriving,  and  was  spreading  like  wild-fire 
through  the  country.  The  coalition  form 
ed  against  France  assailed  the  guardian 
principles  of  America,  the  independence 
and  internal  liberty  of  nations.  England 
was  at  its  head,  hated  as  a  recent  enemy, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  102. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  159 

suspected  as  a  former  master.  Her  de 
crees  and  measures  in  regard  to  neutral 
commerce  and  the  impressment  of  sailors 
wounded  the  United  States  in  their  dig 
nity  and  their  interests.  With  the  great 
question  of  neutrality,  particular  questions 
arose,  doubtful  enough  to  serve  as  a  just 
reason  or  a  pretext  for  diversity  of  opin-^ 
ions  and  strong  expressions  of  feeling. 
Upon  some  of  them,  as,  for  instance,  on  the 
restitution  of  maritime  prizes  and  the  mode 
of  receiving  the  new  minister  expected 
from  France,  the  cabinet  was  no  longer 
unanimous.  This  minister,  M.  Genet,  ar 
rived  ;  and  his  journey  from  Charleston  to 
Philadelphia  was  a  popular  triumph.  Ev 
erywhere,  on  his  journey,  numerous  and 
enthusiastic  democratic  associations  assem 
bled,  invited  him  to  meet  them,  and  made 
addresses  to  him  ;  the  newspapers  rapidly 
circulated  through  the  country  accounts  of 
these  rejoicings  and  the  news  from  France. 


160  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

The  public  feeling  grew  more  and  more 
inflamed.  Of  an  enthusiastic  tempera 
ment  himself,  and  blindly  borne  away 
by  the  desire  of  engaging  the  United 
States  in  a  war  to  aid  his  country,  M.  Ge 
net  believed  himself  to  have  the  right 
and  the  ability  to  dare  every  thing,  and  to 
succeed  in  every  thing.  He  issued  let 
ters  of  marque,  enrolled  American  citi 
zens,  armed  privateers,  adjudged  prizes, 
and  acted  as  a  sovereign  power  in  this 
foreign  territory,  in  the  name  of  republi 
can  brotherhood.  And  when  Washington, 
at  first  astonished  and  motionless,  but  soon 
determined,  vindicated  the  rights  of  the 
general  government,  Genet  entered  into 
an  avowed  contest  with  him,  supported  his 
own  pretensions,  broke  out  into  violent 
abuse  of  him,  encouraged  the  spirit  of  se 
dition,  and  even  threatened  to  appeal  to 
the  people  against  a  President  who  was 


OF  WASHINGTON.  161 

unfaithful  to  his  trust,  and  to  the  general 
cause  of  liberty. 

No  head  of  a  state  was  ever  more  re 
served  than  Washington  in  the  exercise 
of  power  ;  more  cautious  in  making  en 
gagements  and  taking  new  steps.  But, 
also,  no  one  ever  maintained  more  firmly 
his  declarations,  his  purposes,  and  his 
rights.  He  was  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  had,  in  their  • 
name,  and  by  virtue  of  their  constitution,* 
proclaimed  their  neutrality.  The  neu 
trality  was  to  be  real  and  respected  as 
well  as  his  power.  At  five  successive 
meetings,  he  laid  before  his  cabinet  the 
whole  correspondence,  and  all  the  docu 
ments,  relating  to  this  singular  contest ;  and 
the  cabinet  decided  unanimously,  that  the 
recall  of  M.  Genet  should  be  immediately 
demanded  of  the  French  government. 

Genet  was  recalled.     In  the  opinion  of 

America,  as  well  as  in  his  demand  upon 
11 


162  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

France,    Washington    gained    a    triumph. 
The  federalists  indignantly  rallied  around 
him.     The    pretensions    and   extravagant 
conduct  of  Genet  had  alienated  many  per 
sons  of   the  democratic  party.     Jefferson 
had  not  hesitated  to  support  the  President 
against    him.     A  favorable  reaction  took 
place,  and  the  contest  seemed  at  an  end. 
But  in  government,  as  well  as  in  war, 
,  there  are  victories  which  cost   dear,  and 
•leave  the  danger  still  existing.     The  rev 
olutionary  fever,  once  more  kindled  in  the 
United  States,  did  not  depart  with  a  re 
called  minister.     Instead  of  that  harmony 
of  feeling,  that  calm  after  the   storm  of 
passions  ;  instead  of  that  course  of  pros 
perity  and  general  moderation,  upon  which 
the  American  republic  was  lately  congrat 
ulating  itself,  two  parties  w7ere  there  in  a 
hostile    attitude,   more  widely   separated, 
more  violently  irritated,  than  ever.     The 
opposition  no   longer  confined  its  attacks 


OF  WASHINGTON.  163 

to  the  administration  alone,  to  the  financial 
measures  of  government,  and  to  this  or  that 
doubtful  application  of  legal  powers.  It 
had,  concealed  within  itself,  in  the  demo 
cratic  associations,  in  the  periodical  press, 
and  among  the  foreigners  who  swarmed 
throughout  the  country,  a  true  revolution 
ary  faction,  eager  to  overturn  society  and 
its  government,  in  order  to  reconstruct  them 
upon  other  foundations.  "  There  exists  in 
the  United  States,"  writes  Washington  to 
Lafayette,  "  a  party  formed  by  a  combi 
nation  of  causes,  which  oppose  the  gov 
ernment  in  all  its  measures,  and  are  de 
termined,  as  all  their  conduct  evinces,  by 
clogging  its  wheels,  indirectly  to  change 
the  nature  of  it,  and  to  subvert  the  Con 
stitution.  To  effect  this,  no  means  which 
have  a  tendency  to  accomplish  their  pur 
poses  are  left  unessayed.  The  friends  of 
government,  who  are  anxious  to  maintain 
its  neutrality,  and  to  preserve  the  country 


164      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

in  peace,  and  adopt  measures  to  secure 
these  objects,  are  charged  by  them  as 
being  monarchists,  aristocrats,  and  infract- 
Ors  of  the  Constitution,  which,  according 
to  their  interpretation  of  it,  would  be  a 
mere  cipher.  They  arrogated  to  them 
selves  the  sole  merit  of  being  the  friends  of 
France,  when  in  fact  they  had  no  more 
regard  for  that  nation  than  for  the  Grand 
Turk,  further  than  their  own  views  were 
promoted  by  it ;  denouncing  those  W7ho 
differed  in  opinion,  (whose  principles  are 
purely  American,  and  whose  sole  view  was 
to  observe  a  strict  neutrality,)  as  acting  un 
der  British  influence,  and  being  directed  by 
her  counsels,  or  as  being  her  pensioners." 
"  If  the  conduct  of  these  men  is  viewed 
with  indifference  ;  if  there  are  activity  and 
misrepresentation  on  one  side,  and  supine- 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  378. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  165 

ness  on  the  other,  their  numbers  accumu 
lated  by  intriguing  and  discontented  for 
eigners  under  proscription,  who  were  at 
war  with  their  own  governments,  and  thej 
greater  part  of  them  with  all  govern 
ments,  they  will  increase,  and  nothing 
short  of  Omniscience  can  foretell  the  con 
sequences."  * 

In  the  midst  of  this  pressing  danger, 
Jefferson,  who  was  little  inclined  to  en 
gage  any  further  in  the  contest,  and  who 
had  announced  his  intention  six  months 
before,  and  had  only  delayed  putting  it  in 
execution  at  the  solicitation  of  Washington 
himself,  peremptorily  withdrew  from  the 
cabinet. 

The  crisis  was  a  formidable  one.  A 
general  agitation  spread  throughout  the 
country.  The  western  counties  of  Penn 
sylvania  resisted  with  violence  the  tax  on 

*  Ibid.,  Vol.  XI.  p.  390. 


166  CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE 

distilled  spirits.  In  Kentucky  and  Geor 
gia,  warlike  insurrections,  perhaps  excited 
from  abroad,  threatened,  on  their  own  au- 
I  thority,  to  take  forcible  possession  of  Louis 
iana  and  Florida,  and  to  engage  the  nation, 
in  spite  of  itself,  in  a  conflict  with  Spain. 
The  war  against  the  Indians  continued,  al 
ways  difficult  and  of  doubtful  issue.  A 
new  Congress  had  just  assembled,  full  of 
respect  for  Washington;  but  yet  the  House 
of  Representatives  showed  itself  more  re 
served  in  its  approbation  of  his  foreign  pol 
icy,  and  chose  an  opposition  Speaker  by  a 
majority  of  ten  votes.  England  desired 
to  maintain  peace  with  the  United  States  ; 
but,  whether  she  had  doubts  of  the  success 
of  Washington  in  this  system,  or  acted  in 
obedience  to  the  dictates  of  her  general  pol 
icy,  or  from  an  insolent  spirit  of  contempt, 
she  continued  and  even  aggravated  her 
measures  against  the  commerce  of  the 
Americans,  whose  irritation  also  increased 


OF    WASHINGTON.  167 

in  its  turn.  "  It  has  not  been  the  smallest 
of  these  embarrassments,"  writes  Washing 
ton,  "that  the  domineering  spirit  of  Great 
Britain  should  revive  again  just  at  this 
crisis,  and  the  outrageous  and  insulting 
conduct  of  some  of  her  officers  should 
combine  therewith  to  play  into  the  hands 
of  the  discontented,  and  sour  the  minds  of 
those  who  are  friends  to  peace.  But  this, 
by  the  bye."* 

It  was  indeed  "  by  the  bye,"  and  with 
out  any  purpose  of  taking  advantage  of  it  in 
order  to  weaken  his  policy  or  to  exalt  his 
merit,  that  he  pointed  out  the  obstacles 
scattered  along  his  path.  As  exempt  from 
vanity  as  from  indecision,  he  took  pains  to 
surmount,  but  not  to  display  them.  At  the 
time  when  the  ascendency  of  the  demo 
cratic  party  seem  to  be  assured,  when  the 
federalists  themselves  were  wavering, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  63. 


168      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

when  severe  measures  proposed  in  Con 
gress  against  England  were  about,  per 
haps,  to  render  war  inevitable,  Washing 
ton  suddenly  announced  to  the  Senate,  by 
a  message,  that  he  had  just  nominated 
one  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  federal 
party,  Mr.  Jay,  Envoy  Extraordinary  to 
I  the  Court  of  London,  in  order  to  attempt 
to  reconcile  the  differences  between  the 
two  nations  by  the  peaceful  instrument  of 
negotiation. 

The  Senate  immediately  confirmed  his 
choice.  The  indignation  of  the  opposition 
was  at  its  height.  They  desired  war,  and 
especially,  by  means  of  war,  a  change 
of  policy.  The  simple  continuance  of 
the  present  state  of  affairs  promised 
to  lead  to  that  result.  In  so  excited 
a  state  of  feeling,  in  the  midst  of  the 
increasing  irritation,  a  rumor  from  Eu 
rope,  a  new  insult  to  the  American  flag, 
the  slightest  circumstance,  might  cause 


OF  WASHINGTON.  169 

hostilities  to  break  out.  Washington,  by 
his  sudden  resolution,  gave  a  new  turn  to 
events.  The  negotiations  might  be  suc 
cessful  ;  they  made  it  the  duty  of  the 
government  to  await  the  result.  If  they 
failed,  he  remained  in  a  position  to  make 
war  himself,  and  to  control  it,  without 
his  policy's  receiving  a  death-blow. 

In  order  to  give  to  his  negotiations  the 
authority  of  a  strong  and  well-established 
power,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  baf 
fling  the  hopes  of  his  enemies  as  to  mat 
ters  abroad,  Washington  resolved  to  re 
press  their  efforts  at  home.  The  re 
sistance  of  some  counties  in  Pennsylvania 
to  the  tax  on  distilled  spirits  had  become  an 
open  rebellion.  He  announced,  by  a  pro 
clamation,  his  firm  purpose  of  enforcing  the 
execution  of  the  laws;  assembled  the  mi 
litia  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  New  Jersey, 
and  Pennsylvania  itself;  formed  them  into  / 
an  army  ;  went  in  person  to  the  places  of 


170      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

rendezvous,  with  a  determination  to  take 
the  command  himself  if  the  contest  be 
came  serious  ;  and  did  not  return  to  Phil 
adelphia  till  he  had  learned,  with  certainty, 
that  the  insurgents  would  not  venture  to 
sustain  it.  They  dispersed,  in  point  of 
fact,  on  the  approach  of  the  army,  a  de 
tachment  of  which  took  up  winter  quar 
ters  in  the  disaffected  country. 

Washington,  on  this  occasion,  felt  that 
stern  but  deep  joy,  sometimes  grant 
ed,  in  free  countries,  to  a  virtuous  man 
who  bears  firmly  the  weight  of  pow 
er.  Everywhere,  especially  in  the  States 
which  were  near  the  scene  of  the  in 
surrection,  good  citizens  were  aware  of 
the  danger,  and  felt  their  obligation  to 
contribute,  by  their  own  efforts,  to  the 
support  of  the  laws.  The  magistrates 
were  resolute,  the  militia  zealous ;  a 
strong  public  opinion  silenced  the  hypo 
critical  sophistries  of  the  advocates  of  the 


OF  WASHINGTON.  171 

insurrection  ;  and  Washington  did  his  duty 
with  the  approbation  and  support  of  his 
country.  A  moderate  compensation,  in 
deed,  for  the  new  and  bitter  trials  that 
awaited  him. 

At  about  the  same  period,  his  cabinet, 
which  had  shared  his  labors  and  his  glory, 
withdrew  from  him.  Hamilton,  who  was 
the  object  of  a  hostility  always  increasing, 
after  having  sustained  the  contest  as  long 
as  the  success  of  his  plans  and  his  honor 
required,  compelled  at  length  to  think  oft 
himself  and  of  his  family,  resigned.  Knox 
followed  his  example.  Thus  Washington  - 
WTas  surrounded  by  none  but  new  men,  who, 
though  devoted  to  his  course  of  policy,  had 
much  less  weight  of  authority  than  their 
predecessors,  when  Mr.  Jay  returned  from 
London,  bringing  the  result  of  those  nego 
tiations,  the  mere  announcement  of  which 
had  excited  so  much  indignation. 
JThe  treaty  was  far  from  accomplishing 


172  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

all  that  was  to  be  desired.  It  did  not 
settle  all  the  questions,  nor  secure  all  the 
interests  of  the  United  States  ;  but  it  put 
an  end  to  the  principal  differences  of  the 
two  nations  ;  it  assured  the  full  execution, 
hitherto  delayed  by  Great  Britain,  of  the 
agreements  entered  into  with  her  when 
she  had  recognised  the  independence  of 
the  country  ;  it  prepared  the  way  for  new 
and  more  favorable  negotiations.  In  short, 
it  was  peace  ;  an  assured  peace  ;  one 
which  lessened  even  those  evils,  which  it 
did  not  remove. 

Washington  did  not  hesitate.  He  had 
the  rare  courage  to  adhere  firmly  to  a 
leading  principle,  and  to  accept,  without 
a  murmur,  the  imperfections  and  incon 
veniences  which  accompany  success.  Pie 
immediately  communicated  the  treaty  to 
the  Senate,  who  approved  it,  with  the 
exception  of  one  article,  in  regard  to 
which  a  modification  was  to  be  required 


OF  WASHINGTON.  173 

of  England.  The  question  still  re 
mained  in  suspense.  The  opposition  made 
their  utmost  efforts.  Addresses  came  from 
Boston,  New  York,  Baltimore,  George 
town,  &c.,  expressing  disapprobation  of 
the  treaty,  and  requesting  the  Presi 
dent  not  to  ratify  it.  The  populace  of 
Philadelphia  assembled  in  a  riotous  man 
ner,  marched  through  the  town,  carrying 
the  articles  of  the  treaty  at  the  end  of  a 
pole,  and  formally  burned  them  before  the 
house  of  the  British  minister  and  consul. 
Washington,  who  had  gone  to  pass  some 
days  at  Mount  Vernon,  returned  in  haste  to 
Philadelphia,  and  consulted  his  cabinet  on 
the  question  of  immediately  ratifying  the 
treaty,  without  awaiting  the  arrival  from 
London  of  the  modification  which  even  the 
Senate  had  declared  necessary.  The  step  i 
was  a  bold  one.  One  member  of  the  cabi-/ 
net,  Randolph,  made  objections.  Washing 
ton  went  on  and  ratified  the  treaty.  The 


174  CHARACTER   AND   INFLUENCE 

British  government  agreed  to  the  modifi 
cation  demanded,  and  in  its  turn  ratified 
it.  There  still  remained  the  duty  of  car 
rying  it  into  effect,  which  required  legis 
lative  measures  and  the  intervention  of 
Congress.  The  contest  was  renewed  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Several 
times  the  opposition  gained  a  majority. 
Washington  stood  firm,  in  the  name  of  the 
Constitution,  which  his  opponents  also 
appealed  to  against  him.  Finally,  at  the 
end  of  six  months,  that  peace  might  not 
be  disturbed,  in  the  general  conviction 
that  the  President  would  be  inflexible,  the 
opposition  being  rather  wearied  out  than 
overcome,  the  measures  necessary  for  car 
rying  the  treaty  into  effect  were  adopted 
by  a  majority  of  three  votes. 

Throughout  the  country,  in  public  meet 
ings  and  in  newspapers,  the  fury  of  party 
exceeded  all  bounds.  From  all  quar 
ters,  every  day,  addresses  full  of  censure, 


OF  WASHINGTON.  175 

anonymous  letters,  invectives,  calumnies, 
threats,  were  poured  out  against  Wash 
ington.  Even  his  integrity  was  scanda 
lously  assailed. 

He  remained  unmoved.  He  replied  to 
the  addresses  ;  "  My  sense  of  the  treaty 
has  been  manifested  by  its  ratification. 
The  principles  on  which  my  sanction  was 
given,  have  been  made  public.  I  regret 
the  diversity  of  opinion.  But  whatever 
qualities,  manifested  in  a  long  and  arduous 
public  life,  have  acquired  for  me  the  con 
fidence  of  my  fellow-citizens,  let  them  be 
assured  that  they  remain  unchanged  ;  and 
that  they  will  continue  to  be  exerted  on 
every  occasion,  in  which  the  honor,  the 
happiness,  and  welfare  of  our  common 
country  are  immediately  involved." 

On  the  attacks  of  the  press,  he  said ; 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XII.  p.  212. 


176      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

"  I  did  not  believe  until  lately,  that  it 
was  within  the  bounds  of  probability, 
hardly  within  those  of  possibility,  that 
while  I  was  using  my  utmost  exertions  to 
establish  a  national  character  of  our  own, 
independent,  as  far  as  our  obligations 
and  justice  would  permit,  of  every  nation 
of  the  earth;  and  wished,  by  steering  a 
steady  course,  to  preserve  this  country 
from  the  horrors  of  a  desolating  war,  I 
should  be  accused  of  being  the  enemy  of 
one  nation,  and  subject  to  the  influence  of 
another ;  and,  to  prove  it,  that  every  act 
of  my  administration  would  be  tortured, 
and  the  grossest  and  most  insidious  mis 
representations  of  them  be  made,  by  giving 
one  side  only  of  a  subject,  and  that,  loo, 
in  such  exaggerated  and  indecent  terms  as 
could  scarcely  be  applied  to  a  Nero,  a  no 
torious  defaulter,  or  even  to  a  common 
pickpocket.  But  enough  of  this.  I  have 


OF  WASHINGTON.  177 

already  gone  further  in  the  expression  of 
my  feelings  than  I  intended."  * 

Good  men,  the  friends  of  order  and 
justice,  at  length  perceived  that  they  were 
leaving  their  noble  champion  exposed, 
without  defence,  to  unworthy  attacks.  In 
free  countries,  falsehood  stalks  with  a 
bold  front  ;  vain  would  be  the  attempt 
to  force  it  to  keep  concealed  ;  but  it  is 
the  duty  of  truth,  also,  to  lift  up  its 
head ;  on  these  terms  alone  is  liberty  a 
blessing.  In  their  turn,  numerous  and 
cordial  congratulations,  encouraging  and 
grateful  addresses,  were  presented  to 
Washington.  And  when  the  close  of  his 
second  presidency  approached,  in  all  parts 
of  the  Union,  even  those  where  the  op 
position  seemed  to  prevail,  a  multitude 
of  voices  were  raised,  to  entreat  him  to 
accept  a  third  time  the  highest  power 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XI.  p.  139. 
12 


178  CHARACTER  AND    INFLUENCE 

which  the  suffrages  of  his  fellow-citizens 

o 

could  confer. 

But  his  resolution  was  fixed.  He  did 
not  permit  even  a  discussion  of  the  ques 
tion.  That  memorable  Farewell  Address, 
in  which,  as  he  was  returning  into  the 
midst  of  the  people  whom  he  had  gov 
erned,  he  dispensed  to  them  the  last 
teachings  of  his  long-gathered  wisdom,  is 
still,  after  more  than  forty  years,  cher 
ished  by  them  as  an  object  of  remem 
brance,  and  almost  of  tenderness  of  feeling. 

"  In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen, 
these  counsels  of  an  old  and  affectionate 
friend,  I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make  the 
strong  and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish; 
that  they  will  control  the  usual  current  of 
the  passions,  or  prevent  our  nation  from 
running  the  course,  which  has  hitherto 
marked  the  destiny  of  nations.  But,  if  I 
may  even  flatter  myself,  that  they  may  be 
productive  of  some  partial  benefit,  some 


OF  WASHINGTON.  179 

occasional  good  ;  that  they  may  now  and 
then  recur  to  moderate  the  fury  of  party 
spirit,  to  warn  against  the  mischiefs  of 
foreign  intrigue,  to  guard  against  the  .im 
postures  of  pretended  patriotism  ;  this 
hope  will  be  a  full  recompense  for  the 
solicitude  for  your  welfare,  by  which 

they    have     been     dictated."  * 

"  Though,  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of 
my  administration,  I  am  unconscious  of  in 
tentional  error,  I  am  nevertheless  too  sen 
sible  of  my  defects  not  to  think  it  proba 
ble  that  I  may  have  committed  many 
errors.  Whatever  they  may  be,  I  fer 
vently  beseech  the  Almighty  to  avert  or 
mitigate  the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend. 
I  shall  also  carry  with  me  the  hope, 
that  my  country  will  never  cease  to  view 
them  with  indulgence ;  and  that,  after 
forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XII.  p.  233. 


180      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

service  with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults  of 
incompetent  abilities  will  be  consigned  to 
oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the 
mansions  of  rest. 

"  Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in 
other  things,  and  actuated  by  that  fervent 
love  towards  it,  which  is  so  natural  to  a 
man,  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of 
himself  and  his  progenitors  for  several  gen 
erations  ;  I  anticipate  with  pleasing  ex 
pectation  that  retreat,  in  which  I  promise 
myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet 
enjoyment  of  partaking,  in  the  midst  of 
my  fellow-citizens,  the  benign  influence 
of  good  laws  under  a  free  government,  the 
ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart,  and  the 
happy  reward,  as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual 
cares,  labors,  and  dangers."  * 

What  an  incomparable  example  of  dig 
nity  and  modesty  !  How  perfect  a  model 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XII.  pp.  234,  235. 


OF  WASHINGTON,  181 

of  that  respect  for  the  public  arid  for  one's 
self,  which  gives  to  power  its  moral  gran 
deur  ! 

Washington  did  well  to  withdraw  from 
public  business.  He  had  entered  upon  it 
at  one  of  those  moments,  at  once  difficult 
and  favorable,  when  nations,  surrounded 
by  perils,  summon  all  their  virtue  and  all 
their  wisdom  to  surmount  them.  He  was 
admirably  suited  to  this  position.  He  held 
the  sentiments  and  opinions  of  his  age 
without  slavishness  or  fanaticism.  The 
past,  its  institutions,  its  interests,  its  man 
ners,  inspired  him  with  neither  hatred  nor 
regret.  His  thoughts  and  his  ambition 
did  not  impatiently  reach  forward  into  the 
future.  The  society,  in  the  midst  of 
which  he  lived,  suited  his  tastes  and  his 
judgment.  He  had  confidence  in  its  prin 
ciples  and  its  destiny  ;  but  a  confidence 
enlightened  and  qualified  by  an  accurate 
instinctive  perception  of  the  eternal  prin- 


182  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE 

ciples  of  social  order.  He  served  it  with 
heartiness  and  independence,  with  that 
combination  of  faith  and  fear  which  is 
wisdom  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  before  God.  On  this  account^  es 
pecially,  he  was  qualified  to  govern  it; 
for  democracy  requires  two  things  for  its 
tranquillity  and  its  success  ;  it  must  feel 
itself  to  be  trusted  and  yet  restrained,  and 
must  believe  alike  in  the  genuine  devoted- 
ness  arid  the  moral  superiority  of  its  leaders. 
On  these  conditions  alone  can  it  govern  it 
self  while  in  a  process  of  developement, 
and  hope  to  take  a  place  among  the  dura 
ble  and  glorious  forms  of  human  society. 
It  is  the  honor  of  the  American  people  to 
*  have,  at  this  period,  understood  and  ac 
cepted  these  conditions.  It  is  the  glory 
of  Washington  to  have  been  their  inter 
preter  and  instrument. 

He  did  the  two  greatest  things  which, 
in  politics,  man  can  have  the  privilege  of 


OF  WASHINGTON.  183 

attempting.  He  maintained,  by  peace,  that 
independence  of  his  country,  which  he  had 
acquired  by  war.  He  founded  a  free  gov 
ernment,  in  the  name  of  the  principles  of 
order,  and  by  reestablishing  their  sway. 

When  he  retired  from  public  life,  both 
tasks  were  accomplished,  and  he  could 
enjoy  the  result.  For,  in  such  high  enter 
prises,  the  labor  which  they  have  cost  mat 
ters  but  little.  The  sweat  of  any  toil  is 
dried  at  once  on  the  brow  where  God 
places  such  laurels. 

He  retired  voluntarily,  and  a  conqueror. 
To  the  very  last,  his  policy  had  pre 
vailed.  If  he  had  wished,  he  could 
still  have  kept  the  direction  of  it.  His 
successor  was  one  of  his  most  attached 
friends,  one  whom  he  had  himself  desig 
nated. 

Still  the  epoch  was  a  critical  one.  He 
had  governed  successfully  for  eight  years, 
a  long  period  in  a  democratic  state,  and  that 


184  CHARACTER   AND   INFLUENCE 

in  its  infancy.  For  some  time,  a  policy  op- 
*posed  to  his  own  had  been  gaining  ground. 
American  society  seemed  disposed  to  make 
a  trial  of  new  paths,  more  in  conform 
ity,  perhaps,  with  its  bias.  Perhaps  the 
hour  had  come  for  Washington  to  quit 
the  arena.  His  successor  was  there  over 
come.  Mr.  Adams  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  the  leader  of  the  opposition. 
Since  that  time,  the  democratic  party  has 
governed  the  United  States. 

Is  this  a  good  or  an  evil  ?  Could  it  be 
otherwise  ?  Had  the  government  con 
tinued  in  the  hands  of  the  federal  party, 
would  it  have  done  better  ?  Was  this 
possible  ?  What  have  been  the  conse 
quences,  to  the  United  States,  of  the 
triumph  of  the  democratic  party  ?  Have 
they  been  carried  out  to  the  end,  or  have 
they  only  begun  ?  What  changes  have  the 
society  and  constitution  of  America  under- 


OF    WASHINGTON.  185 

gone,  what  have  they  yet  to  undergo, 
under  their  influence  ? 

These  are  great  questions  ;  difficult,  if  I 
mistake  not,  for  natives  to  solve,  and  cer 
tainly  impossible  for  a  foreigner. 

However  it  may  be,  one  thing  is  cer 
tain  ;  that  which  Washington  did,  —  the 
founding  of  a  free  government,  by  order 
and  peace,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  —  no  other  policy  than  his  could 
have  accomplished.  He  has  had  this 
true  glory  ;  of  triumphing,  so  long  as  he 
governed  ;  and  of  rendering  the  triumph 
of  his  adversaries  possible,  after  him,  with 
out  disturbance  to  the  state. 

More  than  once,  perhaps,  this  result 
presented  itself  to  his  mind,  without 
disturbing  his  composure.  "  With  me,  a 
predominant  motive  has  been  to  endeavour 
to  gain  time  to  our  country  to  settle  and 
mature  its  yet  recent  institutions ;  and  to 
progress  without  interruption  to  that  de- 


186      CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE 

gree  of  strength  and  consistency,  which  is 
necessary  to  give  it,  humanly  speaking, 
the  command  of  its  own  fortunes."  * 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are 
virtually  the  arbiters  of  their  own  for 
tunes.  Washington  had  aimed  at  that 
high  object.  He  reached  his  mark. 

Who  has  succeeded  like  him  ?  Who 
has  seen  his  own  success  so  near  and 
so  soon  ?  Who  has  enjoyed,  to  such  a 
degree  and  to  the  last,  the  confidence  and 
gratitude  of  his  country  ? 

Still,  at  the  close  of  his  life,  in  the  de 
lightful  and  honorable  retirement  at  Mount 
Vernon,  which  he  had  so  longed  for,  this 
great  man,  serene  as  he  was,  was  inwardly 
conscious  of  a  slight  feeling  of  lassitude  and 
melancholy  ;  a  feeling  very  natural  at  the 
close  of  a  long  life  employed  in  the  affairs 
of  men.  Power  is  an  oppressive  burden  ; 

*  Washington's  Writings,  Vol.  XII.  p.  234. 


OF  WASHINGTON.  187 

and  mankind  are  hard  to  serve,  when 
one  is  struggling  virtuously  against  their 
passions  and  their  errors.  Even  suc 
cess  does  not  efface  the  sad  impressions 
which  the  contest  has  given  birth  to ;  and 
the  exhaustion,  which  succeeds  the  strug 
gle,  is  still  felt  in  the  quiet  of  repose. 

The  disposition  of  the  most  eminent  men, 
and  of  the  best  among  the  most  eminent, 
to  keep  aloof  from  public  affairs,  in  a 
free  democratic  society,  is  a  serious  fact. 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  all  ardent 
ly  sighed  for  retirement.  It  would  seem 
as  if,  in  this  form  of  society,  the  task  of 
government  were  too  severe  for  men  who 
are  capable  of  comprehending  its  extent, 
and  desirous  of  discharging  the  trust  in  a 
proper  manner. 

Still,  to  such  men  alone  this  task  is  suited, 
and  ought  to  be  intrusted.  Government 
will  be,  always  and  everywhere,  the  great 
est  exercise  of  the  faculties  of  man,  and 


188  CHARACTER    OF    WASHINGTON. 

I 

consequently  that  which  requires  minds  of 
the  highest  order.  It  is  for  the  honor,  as 
well  as  for  the  interest,  of  society,  that 
such  minds  should  be  drawn  into  the 
administration  of  its  affairs,  and  retained 
there  ;  for  no  institutions,  no  securities, 
can  supply  their  place. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  in  men  who 
are  worthy  of  this  destiny,  all  weari 
ness,  all  sadness  of  spirit,  however  it 
might  be  permitted  in  others,  is  a  weak 
ness.  Their  vocation  is  labor.  Their  re 
ward  is,  indeed,  the  success  of  their  ef 
forts,  but  still  only  in  labor.  Very  often 
they  die,  bent  under  the  burden,  before 
the  day  of  recompense  arrives.  Wash 
ington  lived  to  receive  it.  He  deserved 
and  enjoyed  both  success  and  repose.  Of 
all  great  men,  he  was  the  most  virtuous 
and  the  most  fortunate.  In  this  world, 
God  has  no  higher  favors  to  bestow. 


THE   END.  fjy^fj  ,     „ 


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